There are many studies and researches on the reasons behind our everyday actions, understanding the psychology behind this is a big step for our growth and for developing our personality when we know how our brains make perceptions way decisions and how our subconscious operates.
We can have a clear review in achieving success thus for today’s article we present to you the 6 powerful psychological phenomena that reveal how our brains function.
How Your Brain Works?
The pratfall Effect
The pratfall effect states that your likability will increase if you show people that you are not perfect and you commit mistakes therefore don’t worry about dropping your spoon while on a date with your boyfriend. don’t be afraid to tell your friends about your failures and mistakes. doing so will only make you more human thus allowing them to like you more such instances are the result of the pratfall effect.
If you try to show people that you never make mistakes or that you are close to perfect, they consider you as less likable than those who commit random mistakes perfection creates a gap between you and other people while occasional flaws bring you closer to them.
The pratfall effect was carried out by psychologist Eliot Aaronson. He invited the participants to listen to recordings of people answering a quiz. some recordings incorporated the sound of a person bumping over a cup of coffee. Then the participants were told to rate the quizzers on likability and it turned out that the group of coffee spills ranked on top. This psychological effect reminds us that committing mistakes is part of being human in fact occasional mistakes can benefit us. as long as the mistake is not very serious and is normal to happen in our everyday lives.
The Pygmalion Effect
This fact states that bigger expectations result in greater performance. the essence of the Pygmalion effect is the belief of self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe and trust something is true to yourself eventually. It will be psychologist Robert Rosenthal is the person who carried out the first test of the Pygmalion effect.
It happened with first and second grade students in an elementary school classroom at the beginning of the school year. all students took an assessment test Rosenthal then swayed the teachers letting them believe that certain students have a high chance of attaining great academic achievement.
However, Rosenthal chose the students at random without considering the results of the assessment test by the end of the year the same students took another test and it turned out that the group who are previously chosen as high achievers showed higher results over their peers.
Later tests showed that the teachers subconsciously provide more attention opportunities and time to the said group. They have higher expectations for the special group and so the expectations formed. The reality Rosenthal summarized this test as what one person expects of another can come to serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This psychological phenomenon was called Pygmalion after the Ovid tale of a sculptor who fell in love with one of his sculptures using the Pygmalion effect can greatly. benefit your personal growth and leadership. The more you challenge yourself to difficult goals the better your result will be.
The paradox of choice
The paradox of choice states that the more options, we have the less likely we are to be pleased with our choice a great example of the paradox of choice is the buyer’s remorse.
Even if we already have a final decision in our mind when a variety of choices is laid out in front of us. we tend to be less happy with our final choice. such instances where the paradox of choice happens is when we second guess our choice of restaurant.
When buying a new phone, you tend to think again about your decision, even if you already decided on what phone to buy three days ago this shows that the availability of many options make contentment harder to achieve to prove this psychological phenomenon.
Psychologist Mark Lepper and Sheena Iron jar carried out a supermarket jam experiment at a gourmet food store the psychologist set up an exhibit of high quality jams along with taste samples in one test six varieties of jam were offered on the other one. They offered 24 jams the result of the experiment indicated that 30 percent of people who were introduced with smaller options ended up buying a jar of jam, meanwhile only 3 percent of people exposed to bigger selection bought. the jam an easy solution to the paradox of choice is to provide yourself with fewer options.
The Bystander Effect
The bystander effect is a psychological phenomenon wherein a person who needs help is less likely to receive one when many people are around that person for researchers, It is called a confusion of responsibility. It is when individuals feel that they are less responsible for something, when there are people around therefore if you need help don’t ask for it in a crowd a study by social psychologist Bibb Latane and John Darley proved the bystander effect in the experiment.
They watched the students respond to a choking fellow student. 85 percent rushed to help when they felt that they were the only person during the incident on the other hand when the student felt that there was another person aside from him.
65 percent responded to help meanwhile the percentage ultimately decreased to 31 when the student felt that there were four other people in the incident the bystander effect is often seen in a group project in school as well as in the marketplace because there are other members in the group individuals tend to not do their tasks due to diffused responsibility. They assume that someone else will do the job to prevent the bystander effect you have to be specific when asking someone for help. Make sure they know that you’re specifically asking for their help by mentioning their name in order to avoid the confusion of responsibility.
The Spotlight Effect
The spotlight effect is the perception that we are always under scrutiny, every time we make mistakes. This leads us to create self-doubt although, it does not really reflect reality based on this psychological phenomenon. People aren’t actually paying attention to our mistakes as much as we think to prove this a team of psychologists from Cornell carried out a test wherein a group of test subjects were asked to wear an embarrassing t-shirt.
A shirt featuring Barry Manilow’s face to be exact they were then asked to estimate how many people would notice what they were wearing the results showed that the estimations of the test subjects were twice as high compared to the actual number although you can’t really refrain yourself from being embarrassed after committing a mistake. you somehow feel more comfortable and relaxed knowing that you’re only exaggerating its impact on other people.
The Focusing Effect
The focusing effect is the tendency of the human mind to give too much emphasis on one aspect when making decisions thus failing to recognize other factors, that are equally important as well psychologists tested. this psychological phenomenon when they asked how much happier a Californian is than a Midwesterner resident in both areas answered that Californians are much happier but the truth is there is no difference between the happiness rating of both groups respondents focused on the lovely sunny weather and the easy-going lifestyle in California where in fact there are also aspects that Midwesterners enjoy such as the low crime rates in their area, the safety from earthquakes etc.
The focusing effect is mostly used by marketers by persuading the customers to buy their product by highlighting the features of a product or a service not only the salesman but the politicians use this psychological effect as well to focus on the important issues the world is facing today and use it to their advantage to avoid focusing effect make sure to look at the problem from all angles weigh down all factors to avoid mistakes in the future thus helping you make a sound choice and that ends our video for today.
Perhaps you have experienced one or two of these psychological effects before and if you do feel free to share it with us in the comments section below, if you enjoyed today’s content How Your Brain Works, make sure to like share.
