6,078 articles
Paranormal
Paranormal: phenomena and claims (telepathy, ghosts, precognition) that cannot be explained by current science, studied by parapsychology and anomalistic psychology, and quantified psychologically via paranormal belief measures.
Paraphilic infantilism
Paraphilic infantilism (autonepiophilia, adult baby syndrome) is sexual arousal from role-playing regression to an infant state, historically defined in DSM-III-R through DSM-IV-TR and no longer a DSM-5 or ICD paraphilia; distinct from diaperism and pedophilia.
Parasite single
Parasite single (パラサイトシングル) is a Japanese pejorative for unmarried adults living off their parents' household, coined by sociologist Masahiro Yamada in 1997 and popularized by his 1999 book.
Parasocial interaction
Parasocial interaction (PSI), also called parasocial relationship, is a one-sided bond with media figures, coined by Horton and Wohl in 1956; distinguished from reciprocal relationships by lack of mutuality, studied across influencers, celebrities, and AI agents.
Pardo
Pardo is the Brazilian census color/race category for brown or mixed-ancestry people, one of five IBGE categories. In 2022, 45.3% of Brazilians identified as pardo, surpassing whites for the first time since 1991.
Pardo Brazilians
Pardo Brazilians are people self-declaring as pardo (brown/mixed) in the IBGE census, one of five color/race categories. In 2022 they became the largest group at 45.3% (92.1 million), first since 1991.
Parent-in-law
Parent-in-law: the father-in-law or mother-in-law, the parent of one's spouse. An affinal (marriage-created) kin relation, traced etymologically to Canon Law via brother-in-law (13c.) and PIE swekuros.
Parental abuse by children
Parental abuse by children, also called child-to-parent violence (CPV) or CAPVA, is abuse of a parent or carer by a child, physical, psychological, or financial; average prevalence about 35%, linked to early family victimization, with no universal definition.
Parental alienation
Parental alienation: proposed dynamic where a child unjustifiably rejects a parent, coined as PAS by Richard Gardner in 1985; excluded from ICD-11 and DSM, scientifically contested, and widely criticized as misused in custody disputes.
Parental leave
Parental leave: employment-protected, often paid time off for parents of a new child, alongside maternity and paternity leave. ILO standards set 14 weeks maternity; 68 of 185 countries have parental leave rights; the US mandates only 12 weeks unpaid.
Parenting
Parenting, also called child-rearing, is providing nurturing care to children by parents or other caregivers. Key facts: four parenting styles with authoritative favored, harsh discipline prevalence, WHO and UNICEF support programmes, digital-age challenges.
Parenting Scale
The Parenting Scale is a 30-item self-report questionnaire measuring dysfunctional parental discipline, especially laxness and overreactivity, used in parent-training research and clinical assessment since its 1993 introduction.
Parenting styles
Parenting styles: the Baumrind and Maccoby-Martin typology of authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful parenting, built on warmth and control dimensions, with outcomes and cultural limits.
Pareto principle
Pareto principle, or 80/20 rule and law of the vital few: rule of thumb that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes, drawn from Vilfredo Pareto's wealth observations and named and generalized by Joseph Juran for quality management.
Paris syndrome
Paris syndrome (Syndrome de Paris; パリ症候群, Pari shōkōgun) is a transient culture-shock disorder mainly in Japanese tourists in Paris, with delusions, hallucinations, persecution feelings, and psychosomatic symptoms; coined by Hiroaki Ōta, not in diagnostic manuals.
Parish
Parish: territorial unit of a Christian diocese under one priest and church (from Greek paroikia), also the civil local-government unit in England, Scotland, Quebec, and Louisiana's county-equivalents.
Parler
Parler is an American free-speech-focused social network founded in 2018, popular with conservatives, that reached No. 1 on Apple's App Store in January 2021 before Apple, Google, and Amazon Web Services deplatformed it after the January 6 Capitol attack; it later relaunched under new owners.
Parsis (પારસી)
Parsis (પારસી) are Indian Zoroastrians, descendants of Persian refugees who settled Gujarat after the Arab conquest of Iran, per the Qissa-i Sanjan; noted for the Iranshah fire at Udwada, colonial-era commercial leadership, and a declining population.
Partial credit model
The partial credit model is a Rasch item response theory model for scoring responses in two or more ordered categories, introduced by Geoff N. Masters in Psychometrika in 1982.
Participant observation
Participant observation is a qualitative research method in which the researcher joins in the daily activities of the group being studied while keeping systematic records.
Participatory mapping
Participatory mapping is a research and planning method in which community members collaboratively create maps documenting local knowledge, resources, and land use, from sketch maps to GPS-based digital maps.
Party
Party (social gathering): a hosted event where hosts invite guests for celebration or sociability; forms include the dinner party, cocktail party, house party, and festival, distinguished by time, place, and codes of behavior.
Pascagoula Abduction
The Pascagoula Abduction, also called the Hickson-Parker incident: an alleged alien abduction of two Mississippi shipyard workers fishing on the Pascagoula River on October 11, 1973, notable for a secret police recording of the witnesses and disputed polygraph evidence.
Pashtun tribes
Pashtun tribes (khel) are patrilineal descent groups of the Pashtun people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, nested as zai lineages, aziiz clans, and confederations such as the Durrani and Ghilzai, governed by pashtunwali and marked by egalitarian, segmentary organization.
Pashtuns (پښتانه)
Pashtuns (پښتانه), also Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Eastern Iranian people of about 60 million in Afghanistan and Pakistan, speaking Pashto, governed by Pashtunwali, and divided by the Durand Line.
Passaic UFO photographs
Passaic UFO photographs, or George Stock photographs, July 31, 1952 Passaic, New Jersey pictures of a domed disc, investigated by ATIC and FBI; ATIC judged them not authentic but never proven hoax.
Passing (racial identity)
Racial passing, also called passing for white, is presenting as a race other than one's assigned one; over 19% of black males passed for white in 1880-1940 US censuses, with roots in antebellum escape from slavery.
Passion (emotion)
Passion (emotion): in psychology, a strong inclination toward a valued activity one loves and invests time in, split by Vallerand's dualistic model into harmonious and obsessive passion, measured by the Passion Scale.
Passive-aggressive behavior
Passive-aggressive behavior: indirect expression of negative feelings with a say-do disconnect; signs include procrastination and sullenness. Originated in the WWII US military; PAPD was dropped from DSM-IV.
Passport bros
Passport bros, also called PPB, are Western men who travel abroad, mainly to Colombia, Brazil, Thailand, and the Philippines, seeking "traditional" wives; a manosphere-linked movement coined in a 2011 documentary and spread on TikTok since 2019.