I glanced at my watch, do you want to know the time? After reading "Influence" - The Principle of Social Proof

Variety shows, stage performances, and opera broadcasts always have a little "canned laughter" in the background; sales of text images always have a happy expression or big heart; or popular simulations of clapping and screaming, which may often appear in the background. In my heart, I feel that it is not true enough, but "because we always act according to other people's opinions", social evidence that seems tacky and contrived can still play a role in our psychology. Those big bosses who own goods or advertisements will insist on it. Add these embellishments to products and performances because they know that customers will involuntarily be led into the flock and follow the path of the wolves.

Have you really resisted the urge to follow the person in front of you and look elsewhere?

Our attention to the reactions and opinions of others is unconscious, and even fake artifacts can successfully interfere with our thinking. Why do we always hear advertisers say "the biggest sales", "the fastest growing", "thankful hot sales", etc. Even if you look at it for a long time, it is easy to have doubts for the first time, but most of the time, it is in our heart that we are persuaded step by step to satisfy ourselves. Our decisions are unknowingly influenced by these impressions.
Willful thinking that everyone should be independent and have the freedom of choice; also always comfort or warn others not to care too much about other people's vision, do what you want and choose.

The fact is that to escape the reflex effect of being unaffected by others, even if it is just pretending, it still requires a certain degree of willpower, and a considerable amount of cognition and self-awareness to resist the trap of being manipulated by others.

A good boy has to be gregarious

If the child is afraid of dogs, let him watch another child play with the dog for 20 minutes every day. Research data shows that 67% of the children who were originally afraid of dogs are willing to enter the fence to play with the dog after four days, even if the requesting adult is not present. . Further research, without having to watch a live demonstration, taking children to watch similar movies also has the same effect, especially the more the same type of bridges, the better the effect.
Psychologists have also conducted experiments on preschool children with autism, allowing these children to watch movies with group interactions. Almost all of these schoolchildren with social disabilities have begun to enter the social circle for activities, and even become the leading figures of the dominant group. .

It's no wonder that many people always like to use comparisons to influence children, because we are born animals that are easy to identify with others, and it is precisely because parents have self-esteem and identity that are always compared with others, so invisible and constantly strengthen children's consistency with others. It's just the wrong way. There's no research showing that simple thoughts or external demonstrations with insufficient intensity in a short period of time can have the effect of changing children's behavior.

Not sure, die

The psychological principles that change people's hearts always have some triggering conditions, which can bring more perfect control effects. What the social proof principle requires is "uncertainty". (Can you remember that every time you come to a new environment, you always turn your head to see what other people are doing?)

The Genovese incident in the United States records a horrific murder case in Queens, New York City. The victim, Genovese, was continuously stabbed by the murderer. For 35 minutes, a total of 38 witnesses failed to bring them to the scene. any substantial assistance to the deceased. The media were shocked after the event, and views and explanations such as indifference, urban lifestyles, and the alienation of individuals and groups came to the surface, but the key factors proposed by psychology professors in the in-depth research were different from those listed above. Therefore, the constant calls for help still could not cause 38 normal, kind, ordinary people to make a phone call to notify the police. The key factor is the "bystanders".

In a crisis, the more bystanders, the higher the death rate.

In a state of uncertainty, people tend to observe other people's actions as a reference and basis. "Maybe someone has called the police.", "Maybe it's just acting or arguing." The more people on the scene, the better they can be Hiding behind the group also means following the current choices of the crowd is the right mindset. Another experiment in New York showed that when passing by and seeing smoke billowing from the crack of the door, as long as a few actors were placed on the scene to watch, the probability of people passing by to take action to the police dropped from 75% to 38%.

It is really hard for us not to run with the people in front of us when the fire breaks out, and it is really hard for us not to be buried with retail investors when the stock market crashes. As long as we experience it with nervousness and uncertainty, any similar behavior will be like A life-saving guide. It is no wonder that the standard CPR first aid procedure must designate specific personnel at the scene to call for help, because it is a reality that simply expects bystanders to take the initiative to assist, which is completely inconsistent with psychological principles.

In addition, social behaviors that like to imitate also include the so-called "Werther effect" when news broadcasts of suicides and accidents are reported: the higher the exposure rate of tragic events, the higher the rate of subsequent suicides in society. Accident rates will rise, and people will imitate not only what is good for them, but also how to take their own lives. (So, if you want the world to be a better place, shouldn't you make a little choice about the media everyone watches and the news they get?)

Even if you only have one mouth, you have to be convincing

Using the power of social proof to lead subordinates is also an excellent persuasion technique for those in supervisory positions. If you want to create an environment for group cooperation and mutual assistance, and change the behavior and attitude of employees, they always cry to persuade them to be reasonable, or clumsily use class differences to oppress them, which often only results in dissatisfaction and alienation of the communication partners. Making good use of people's herd mentality and creating natural background information that "a large number of group members have been persuaded" is a smart way to make influence more effective.

Don't try to change anyone, let them change themselves.

how to refuse

Mass behavior does not happen because of knowing what we don't know, but mostly driven by the principle of unconscious social identity. As mentioned at the beginning, the most fundamental antidote is to see through the use of psychological techniques by people with intentions to confuse us. It is the vigilance of continuous self-awareness. Even if it is frankly falsified evidence, people can walk into the crowd willingly, and we can be rational most of the time, but the premise is that there is no information in the environment that interferes with our cognition.

"Press and release" is the behavioral mechanism that the author constantly describes in the book. Once the psychological switch is touched, we have to follow the biological mechanism of being human, but at least there is still a last line of defense. , that is calm, rational thinking.

2019.12.15 08:10

Written in Taitung City