Our December time machine

At the beginning of each month, we will revisit some past issues. What did you miss? How have the ideas within the articles stood the test of time?

Let's set the controls for December…

Corporate gaslighting, absenteee leaders and the emotions of work were on the agenda in 2023. In 2022 we were considering house and home in a series of articles and interviews. 2021 was an uncanny year, and we explored it in depth in this issue.

In December 2020 we considered the allure of mysteries; and talked sport, birth shock, dementia and more.

Our 2019 issue was a special feature on allergy, including Khadj Rouf and Kathryn Evans on the challenges of parenting children with severe allergies, Audrey DunnGalvin on growing up with allergy, Rebecca Knibb on interventions, and Béré Mahoney, Eleanor Bradley, Elaine Walklet and Steve O'Hickey on living with anaphylaxis in adulthood.

In 2018, Elizabeth Stokoe introduced a special collection on how real people communicate. We had interviews with Dawn Edge on tackling ethnically-based inequalities in mental health and Dominic Willmott on inaccurate beliefs about rape.

2017 saw Elena Lemonaki and Patrick Leman consider overt and insidious forms of sexism. Jan Noyes looked back on Conwy Lloyd Morgan, the first psychologist to become a Fellow of the Royal Society, and Tony Rousmaniere and Professor Miranda Wolpert had a conversation about failure in therapy.

Our cover feature in 2016 was from Louisa Lawrie and Louise H. Phillips on how we process emotions in ourselves and others as we age. Gina Rippon challenged beliefs about the 'essential' unchangeability of the human brain and its role in determining gender inequality, and Emily J.H. Jones and Mark H. Johnson made the case for investment in early intervention for neurodevelopmental disorders. 

In 2015, Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson argued there's a role for psychologists in helping people with their Advance Decisions. Chelsea Schein, Amelia Goranson and Kurt Gray consider why immoral acts always seem to be those that cause harm – especially to children. Antigonos Sochos considered whether attachment can be extended to social groups, ideological systems and social institutions, and Gail A. Hornstein looked at artistic depictions of insanity.

December 2014 saw Fionnuala C. Murphy, Dorothy V.M. Bishop, and Natasha Sigala discuss psychology's gender imbalance. Julie Hulme looked at what the popularity of psychology means for society, and Peter Reddy, Stephan Dutke, Ioulia Papageorgi and Helen Bakker looked at psychology education across Europe.

In 2013, Uta Frith told us about her journey from art to autism and Maggi Evans looked at women in leadership. Gregory J. Feist presented an overview of the psychology of scientific thought and behaviour, Richard J. Brown explored 'medically unexplained' symptoms, and Tony Black presented a memoir of Broadmoor Hospital.

Our 2012 special issue 'An explosion of the senses' considered smell, vision, touch, hearing, taste, echolocation, and a history of conceptualisation of the senses.

Twenty-five years of the Society's Health Psychology Section was celebrated in the December 2011 issue, and December 2010 marked the 150^th anniversary of Gustav Fechner's Elements of Psychophysics. This issue also featured Elizabeth Valentine's profiles of three women at the forefront of 20^th century experimental psychology.

Our 2009 special issue on music psychology considered change in the digital era, emotion in music, music education, musical learning, and amusia. In 2008, we went into space, conceived of fiction as simulation, looked at the impact of stress on exams and asked what drives people to search for their roots. In 2007, we looked at retirement, employee wellbeing, perfectionism in students, and happiness at work. Plus a look at psychology in China.

In December 2006, we had creative and scientific insights from dreams, examined psychology in Ukraine, looked at women in secure settings and considered the importance of archives (apt for this archive trawl). In 2005 we considered Freud's impact 100 years on from publication of his 'Three essays on the theory of sexuality', looked at psychological testing with the deaf community, and reported some surprising effects in the psychology of rejection.

The 2004 issue looked at the pros and cons of caffeine, déjà vu, indirect aggression on screen, and a potential paradigm shift in psychology. December 2003 saw a special issue on new statistical techniques. In 2002, we examined the genetic basis of Williams syndrome, the potential of multiple social categorisation, collaborative memory, and equal opportunities in psychology for those with disabilities.

As we go further back through Decembers of the past we find articles on psychology in the mass media, communication through our bodies, myths around rape, and special issues on Freud and psychoanalysis and the new millennium.

When we get to 1997 and further back, issues are viewable only as whole PDFs… Find articles on understanding marriage, student assessment, prejudice and discrimination in the police, and cross-cultural psychometric performance. There's guidance on writing for The Psychologist, special issues on psychology in Scotland, psychobiology, and counselling psychology. See how well you do on a BPS quiz from 1989, and finally, from the first ever December issue, in 1988, take a look at social psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology in gerontology.