People imagine that they would prefer variety more than they do. The reality is that they only prefer variety if habituation sets in. Otherwise, in episodes separated by time, they strongly prefer favorites.
Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Consumerism, Life & Society, Psychology | Behavior
People tend to assume that the future will look largely like today. Underestimating the future is a time-honored tradition. Arthur Clark observed, “When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” People almost always err by predicting that the future will be too much like the … [ Read more ]
Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Concepts, Education | Scholarship, Possibility, Psychology | Behavior, Thought | Inquiry
When we think about events in the distant future, we focus on why they will happen; when we think about events in the near future, we focus on how they will happen.
Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Education | Scholarship, Psychology | Behavior, Thought | Inquiry
When we are selecting something, we focus on the most positive attributes. When we are rejecting something, we focus on the most negative.
Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Chief Executive | Subjects: Education | Scholarship, Facts | Bias, Psychology | Behavior, Thought | Inquiry
If a bad event is predictable and we anticipate it, we develop ways to rationalize and adjust to the impact. This gives us a feeling of control. For example, a number of experiments found that subjects who receive strong shocks in a regular pattern deal with it better than subjects who receive mild shocks at unpredictable intervals.
People find it gratifying to exercise control, not only … [ Read more ]
Author: Jonathan Byrnes | Source: Chief Executive | Subject: Psychology | Behavior