Reactive devaluation is a cognitive bias that causes people to devalue things that are offered to them, especially if offered by someone they perceive negatively. For example, reactive devaluation can cause someone to wrongly dismiss a good business proposal as bad, just because they dislike the person who offered it. Reactive devaluation is a …
An ingroup is a social group that a person identifies as being a part of, based on factors like nationality, race, religion, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation. An outgroup is a social group that a person does not identify with, based on similar factors as would cause that person to identify with an ingroup …
Crab mentality is a phenomenon where people react negatively, in terms of their thoughts, statements, or actions, to those who get ahead of them, even though they don’t expect there to be direct benefits to doing so. For example, crab mentality can cause someone to discourage or sabotage their friend who is starting to …
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) are interconnected mental states that strongly influence people’s behaviors, often as part of deliberate manipulation. For example, a salesperson could use FUD to convince a customer to buy unnecessary software, by exaggerating potential online risks and making the customer underestimate their ability to handle those risks on their own. …
Chutzpah is the willingness to take risks in a highly shameless and confident manner, that’s often seen as disrespectful or rude. For example, an entrepreneur who’s running a small startup might display chutzpah by calling the CEO of a large company directly, despite having no invitation to do so. Chutzpah can be beneficial in …
Reverse psychology is a manipulation technique that involves getting people to do something by supposedly discouraging it. This technique can take various forms, including forbidding a target behavior, questioning a person’s ability to perform it, and encouraging its opposite. For example, a parent might use reverse psychology on their child by saying “you probably …
A double standard is a principle or policy that is applied differently to similar things, without proper justification. Essentially, this means that a double standard occurs when two or more things, such as individuals or groups, are treated differently, when they should be treated the same way. For example, a double standard can involve …
The fundamental attribution error is a cognitive bias that causes people to underestimate the influence of situational (environment-based) factors on people’s behavior, and to overestimate the influence of dispositional (personality-based) factors. Essentially, this means that the fundamental attribution error causes people to assume that other people’s actions are less affected by their environment than they …
Virtue signaling is the act of speaking or behaving in a way that’s meant to demonstrate one’s good moral values. For example, if a person widely proclaims on social media that they strongly support a certain cause, because they want to show others how caring they are, that person is virtue signaling. Virtue signaling …
The fear of missing out (FOMO) occurs when people worry that they’re missing out or will miss out on a seemingly rewarding opportunity. Most often, FOMO has to do with rewarding opportunities that other people—especially ones in a person’s social circle—are a part of. A common example of FOMO is being worried about missing …