The bandwagon effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to think or act in a certain way, because they believe that others are doing the same. For example, the bandwagon effect can cause someone to adopt a certain political ideology, simply because influential people in their social circle have adopted the same ideology. …
Read moreThe Bandwagon Effect: Why People Tend to Follow the Crowd
The egocentric bias is a cognitive bias that causes people to rely too heavily on their own point of view when they examine events in their life or when they try to see things from other people’s perspective. Essentially, the egocentric bias causes people to either underestimate how different other people’s viewpoint is from …
Read moreThe Egocentric Bias: Why It’s Hard to See Things from a Different Perspective
The familiarity backfire effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to remember misinformation better, and to remember it as being true, after they are shown corrective information that is supposed to debunk it, as a result of the increased exposure to that misinformation. For example, if someone is shown evidence which proves that …
Read moreThe Familiarity Backfire Effect: Why Debunking a Myth Can Make People Believe It
Most of us use social media in one form or another. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, social-media use can promote a number of psychological issues, such as addiction and depression, which negatively impact your mental health and emotional wellbeing. In the following article, you will learn about the various psychological issues …
The empathy gap is a cognitive bias that makes it difficult for people to account for the manner in which differences in mental states affect the way that they and other people make decisions. For example, when it comes to misjudging your own perspective, when a person who is dieting feels full, they struggle to …
Read moreThe Empathy Gap: Why People Fail to Understand Different Perspectives
Flirting is a key part of many social interactions. At the same time however, flirting is also a behavior that few people truly understand. Fortunately, psychologists have conducted quite a bit of research on the topic of flirting. In the following article, you will learn about the different styles of flirting, including the verbal …
The Benjamin Franklin effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to like someone more after they do that person a favor, especially if they previously disliked that person or felt neutral toward them. For example, the Ben Franklin effect could cause someone who disliked you to start liking you after they do you …
Read moreThe Benjamin Franklin Effect: How to Build Rapport by Asking for Favors
The overkill backfire effect is a cognitive bias that causes people who encounter a complex explanation to reject it in favor of a simpler alternative, and to sometimes also reinforce their belief in the simpler alternative. For example, if someone is presented with a complicated scientific explanation for a certain phenomenon, the overkill backfire effect …
Read moreThe Overkill Backfire Effect: On The Danger of Presenting Too Much Evidence
The authority bias is a cognitive bias that makes people predisposed to believe authority figures and obey their orders. Most notably, the authority bias is associated with people’s tendency to obey the orders of someone that they perceive as an authority figure, even when they believe that there’s something wrong with those orders, and …
Read moreAuthority Bias: Lessons from the Milgram Obedience Experiment
The handicap principle is a principle in sociobiology which denotes that the more costly it is to make a signal, and the more costly it is to be caught if that signal is dishonest, the more reliable that signal appears. This means that in many cases, for an act of communication to be perceived as …
Read moreThe Handicap Principle: Why Accepting a Disadvantage Can Signal Strength