interesting psychology facts
The mere presence of other people affects our performance: Known as social facilitation, this phenomenon suggests that people tend to perform better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others. This effect is thought to be due to increased arousal and evaluation apprehension in social situations.
The "Bystander Effect": This is the social phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency situation when there are other people present. The diffusion of responsibility and the fear of social judgment are believed to contribute to this effect.
The placebo effect: This is a psychological phenomenon in which people experience a perceived improvement in symptoms or outcomes due to receiving a treatment that has no therapeutic effect. The placebo effect highlights the powerful role of psychological factors, such as expectations and beliefs, in influencing our experiences and outcomes.
Cognitive dissonance: This is the discomfort or tension that arises when a person holds conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or values. To reduce this discomfort, individuals may engage in cognitive processes, such as rationalization or denial, to reconcile the conflicting information and restore consistency.
The serial position effect: This refers to the tendency for people to remember the first and last items in a list better than those in the middle. The primacy effect explains better recall of the first items, attributed to the greater opportunity for rehearsal and encoding. The recency effect is attributed to better recall of the last items due to their presence in short-term memory.
Confirmation bias: This is the tendency for people to seek out, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms their preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. Confirmation bias can influence decision-making, problem-solving, and the formation of stereotypes or prejudices.
The Dunning-Kruger effect: This is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability or knowledge in a particular domain tend to overestimate their competence, while those with higher ability or knowledge tend to underestimate their competence. This discrepancy arises from a lack of metacognitive awareness and the inability to accurately evaluate one's own performance.
Emotional contagion: This is the phenomenon whereby people tend to mimic and synchronize their emotions with those of others in their social environment. Emotional contagion can occur through nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language, and can influence mood, behavior, and interpersonal interactions.
Credit: https://psychologyorg.com/