psychology
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How Music Props You Up
Pick your playlist carefully. Cue the James Taylor . When a relationship has you down and troubled, you’ve got a friend in music , finds a new study from the Journal of Consumer Research . Compared to people grappling with situational problems like failing a test or screwing up at work, those dealing with depressing relationship issues—say, losing a buddy or breaking up with a girlfriend—are nearly 40 percent more likely to listen to somber music that reflects their mood, the study shows. Researchers discovered a similar preference for angry music when people deal with rage-inducing relationship dust-ups. Why?
La psicología “perversa” de la publicidad
Cada día, el consumidor está expuesto a entre 3.000 y 10.000 marcas a través de spots televisivos, vallas publicitarias, banners online y múltiples formatos publicitarios. El consumidor está literalmente inundado de publicidad y por eso las marcas recurren a algunos “trucos” psicológicos para llamar la atención sobre sus productos y ganarse su confianza. Algunas de estas “artimañas” psicológicas son puestas al descubierto por BuySellAds en una infografía. El “matrimonio” entre psicología y publicidad se remonta a finales del siglo XIX , cuando Harlow Gale decidió enviar un cuestionario a varios negocios de Minnesota con el objetivo de estudiar cómo los clientes procesaban la publicidad. Sólo el 10% de las empresas respondieron al cuestionario, pero muy pronto cambiaría su parecer sobre la psicología aplicada a la publicidad.The bureaucrats running Mumbai’s suburban rail network had a problem: Commuters and people living and working close to train stations were taking shortcuts across the tracks. This reckless behavior was causing 6,000 deaths in the metropolitan area every year. The transit authorities asked FinalMile, a local marketing consultant, to find a solution.
"Behavior Architects" Tackle India's Social Problems
How To Make Better Decisions
Meredith Galante/Business Insider Every day we're faced with decisions, from the trivial to extremely important. Too often we simply go with our gut feeling and do what feels right. The problem with that approach is that it leaves us open to a variety of behavioral and psychological biases that affect the way we think and can lead us to make the wrong choices. By being aware of of the things that lead us down the wrong path and some ways to get it right, we can make better, more rational decisions.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Right? Even though everyone’s charmed by wildly different kinds of physical characteristics (thank goodness!), that hasn’t stopped our old friend science from stepping in and asserting truths about what we are biologically inclined to find appealing. Julian Wolkenstein was intrigued that those with symmetrical faces were widely seen as more attractive, and set out to consider the idea in a series of portraits that mirror both the left and right halves of an individual’s visage, resulting in two often quite different depictions of the same person.
Would You Recognize Yourself With A Completely Symmetrical Face?
Just Because You’re Lonely, Doesn’t Mean You’re Ready
The divorce rate—as high as it is—isn’t an accurate barometer of the failure of romantic relationships because the vast majority of them end without there ever having been a formal marriage. That makes it virtually impossible to even guestimate what the relationship failure rate really is. There are many reasons that fledgling relationships don’t take full flight and never make it to that happy sunset 50 or 60 years later. And, like most things we write about in this space, there’s a direct correlation to grief and to recovery from loss.Simply by signing documents at the start rather than end, people might be encouraged to behave more honestly. The effect was demonstrated in a series of staged and real-world experiments, which included moving signature lines from bottom to top on car insurance reports. On average, that small tweak resulted in a 3,200km difference in distance driven claimed on new policy forms, hinting at what's possible with just a slight nudge to be ethical. "Many people want to be good. Most people care about being good. But they need a reminder to help them sometimes," said Lisa Shu, a Northwestern University psychologist and lead author of the new study, published 27 August in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Signing forms at the top, not the bottom, may make people more honest
Journal of Consumer Psychology - The consumer psychology of brands
A consumer-psychology model of brands Identifying Experiencing Integrating Signifying Connecting
10 Tips for Surviving Breakups
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try certain connections are just not meant to be. Breaking up is hard to do, but it's healthier than staying in an emotionally vacant relationship out of the fear of being single. Here are some tips to get you through the rough times and help you to enjoy this temporary juncture in your journey through life. Adjust your attitude.
The Great DSM Hoax
I have been reading Marilyn Wedge’s excellent Pills Are Not for Preschoolers and it moved me to write again about the extent to which the DSM, the “diagnostic manual” used by the psychotherapeutic professional class, is an utter hoax. You may be familiar with complaints surrounding the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM as those complaints have mounted in recent months in connection with the imminent appearance of the next version of the DSM, the DSM-V, which is scheduled to appear in 2013. In that volume a slew of new “mental disorders,” created out of whole cloth for profit, will appear. Many people, including thousands of mental health professionals, have pushed back.Push Me and I’ll Resist: Reactance Theory - Stephan Dahl
Reactance Theory is a powerful theory to show just how valuable understanding theoretical concepts in everyday marketing activity is. The theory is heavily used in Social Marketing and also applicable to other marketing situations, for example, sales encounters. The basic idea is that if a perceived behavioural freedom is removed ( for example by government legislation, warning signs or pushy sales tactics), the result is that the person who is being pushed will react by adopting or strengthening an opposing view or attitude . An example: I recently tried to cancel my mobile phone subscription with and get a code to move my number to a different provider.The Honest Truth About Respondent Dishonesty
Anyone involved in survey research today should keep abreast of the lessons of behavioral economics . However, it can be challenging at best to keep up on the latest academic research. Luckily for us, Dan Ariely , one of the luminaries of behavioral economics, has written several books that are accessible and highly entertaining guides to the lessons of contemporary experimental psychology.Habits: Why We Do What We Do - HBR IdeaCast
An interview with Charles Duhigg , reporter for The New York Times and author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business . Download this podcast JUSTIN FOX: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review.By DAN ARIELY Research shows that nearly everyone cheats a little if given the opportunity.
Why We Lie
The walk-in medical clinic was about to close for the day when Susan Biali got a call from one of her longtime patients.