Articles
Articles & essays.
Selected writing on empathy, personality, narcissism, and aesthetic identity — published at Psychology Today, in books, and on Substack. New essays appear monthly.
Psychology Today
Deeper Empathy, Lasting Change — the long-running blog. Twelve recent pieces below; the full archive lives on psychologytoday.com.
May 3, 2026 · Psychology Today
On the cultural institutionalization of "good taste" and how instinctual drives quietly predict aesthetic preference long before any of us learn to defend our choices.
Read at Psychology Today ↗
Apr 13, 2026
On narcissistic leadership, fragile egos, and the psychology of war.
PT ↗
Feb 2026
When success reshapes the self — distinguishing acquired narcissism from stable traits.
PT ↗
Jan 2, 2026
Why the "difficult person" label often hides narcissistic harm — and what to do instead.
PT ↗
Dec 2, 2025
A non-clinical reality check for telling narcissistic patterns from one-offs.
PT ↗
Nov 2025
On the quiet harm of narcissism by omission — and what real repair requires.
PT ↗
Oct 2025
On charm, benign narcissism, and how to tell it from real kindness.
PT ↗
Sep 26, 2025
On young men, dominance culture, and how empathy erodes — and how adults can interrupt the slide.
PT ↗
Sep 8, 2025
On charismatic leadership, groupthink, and protecting dissent.
PT ↗
Aug 27, 2025
From narcissism to autism — striking a balance with how we name people.
PT ↗
Aug 2025
Nine forms of narcissism in leadership and why naming them matters.
PT ↗
Jul 30, 2025
Separating autism, narcissism, and psychopathy — and the risks of conflating them.
PT ↗
Sterlin's Substack
Long-form essays on empathy, personality, narcissism, war, and the spiritual life. New posts roughly twice a month — at sterlinmosley.substack.com.
Anchor essay · Substack
A seven-level framework for empathy — built to be useful, not flattering, and to give the word back its weight.
Read on Substack ↗
Selected
Peace-at-all-costs entitlement, and how to name it.
Substack ↗
Selected
On ego, war, and the ethics of defense.
Substack ↗
Selected
On holding complexity in public discourse.
Substack ↗
Selected
Self-scoring guide to four types of empathy.
Substack ↗
Visual Grammar
The design-side Substack. On the psychology of aesthetic identity, instinctual drives, and seasonal palettes — a companion publication to Your Aesthetic Instinct, at visualgrammar.substack.com.
Recent
Why some interiors feel like home before any object enters the room.
Substack ↗
Recent
An introduction to the seasonal palettes behind The Instinct Aesthetic™.
Substack ↗
Recent
Three waves, 174 respondents, and the unromantic numbers behind a romantic framework.
Substack ↗
Other & editorial
Essays and interviews placed in design and lifestyle press. Listings appear here as pieces land — not before.
— in flight —