Barnum effect (suggestion effect)

My friend once asked me, what is the most difficult thing in the world? I said it was the hardest to make money, and he shook his head. Goldbach conjecture? He shook his head again. I say I give up, you tell me. He said mysteriously that he knew himself. Indeed, those thoughtful philosophers also say so.

? Who am I, where am I from and where am I going? People began to ask themselves these questions from ancient Greece, but they didn't get satisfactory results.

However, even so, people never stop pursuing themselves.

Because of this, people often lose themselves and are easily hinted by the information around them, and take other people's words and deeds as a reference for their actions. Conformity psychology is a typical proof.

In fact, people are influenced and hinted by others all the time in their lives. For example, on the bus, you will find a phenomenon that a person yawns with his mouth wide open, and several people around him can't help yawning. Some people don't yawn because there is no suggestion. Who are easily influenced? This can be checked by a simple test.

Let people reach out their hands horizontally, palms up and close their eyes. Tell him that now he has a hydrogen balloon tied to his left hand, which has been floating upwards; He tied a big stone to his right hand and fell down. Three minutes later, look at the gap between his hands. The greater the distance, the stronger the hint.

Knowing oneself, psychologically called self-perception, is a process in which individuals know themselves. In this process, people are more likely to be hinted by external information, which leads to the deviation of self-perception.

In daily life, it is impossible for people to reflect on themselves all the time, and it is impossible to observe themselves as outsiders all the time. Because of this, individuals use external information to know themselves. Individuals are easily hinted by external information when they know themselves, so they often can't perceive themselves correctly.

Psychological research reveals that it is easy for people to believe that a general and general personality description is particularly suitable for them. Even though this description is empty, he still thinks it reflects his personality. There was once a psychologist who used a common sentence that was suitable for almost anyone to let college students judge whether it was suitable for them. Results Most college students think that this sentence describes themselves in detail and accurately. The following paragraph is the material of psychologists. Do you think it suits you too?

You really need others to like and respect you. You tend to criticize yourself. You have many abilities that can be your strengths, but you also have some shortcomings, but you can usually overcome them. You have some difficulties with XXXXX. Although you look calm on the outside, you are really anxious on the inside. You sometimes doubt whether the decision you made or the thing you did was correct. You like some changes in your life and hate being limited. You are proud of being able to think independently, and you won't accept other people's suggestions without sufficient evidence. You think it unwise to expose yourself too much in front of others. Sometimes you are outgoing, kind and sociable, and sometimes you are introverted, cautious and silent. Some of your ambitions are often unrealistic.

This is actually a hat suitable for anyone's head.

A famous technician named Shoman barnum commented on his performance, saying that he was very popular, because the program contained ingredients that everyone liked, so he made "people get cheated every minute". People often think that a generalization and general description of personality reveals their own characteristics very accurately, which is called "Barnum effect" in psychology.

After giving a group of people the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Questionnaire (MMPI), a psychologist showed the participants two results and asked them to decide which one was their own. In fact, one is the result of the participants themselves and the other is the average result of most people's answers. Participants actually thought that the latter expressed their personality characteristics more accurately.

Barnum effect is very common in life. Take fortune telling as an example. After consulting fortune tellers, many people think that what fortune tellers say is "very accurate". In fact, those who turn to fortune tellers are easily influenced. When people are depressed, they lose control of their lives, so their sense of security is also affected. An insecure person's psychological dependence is also greatly enhanced, and the suggestibility is stronger than usual. In addition, fortune tellers are good at trying to figure out people's inner feelings and can understand the feelings of help seekers a little, and help seekers will immediately feel a kind of spiritual comfort. The fortune teller's next general and harmless words can convince the helper.