The author regards pop-psychology as a relatively new trend on the interface of psychological science and mass consciousness, and also as a link between the two. In his opinion, pop-psychology is the third global social paradigm in psychology which cannot be reduced to the other two - research (academic) and practical psychology. Pop-psychology draws from 1) academic psychology, 2) practical psychology, 3) esoterica, 4) common sense. The paper analyzes principal characteristics of pop-psychology, which differentiate it from academic and practical psychology, its main functions and the social niche.