A guide for dealing with humans

This is going to sound quite pessimistic and cynical but please read on if you have the patience.

When dealing with fellow human beings, expect disappointment, unpredictability, and irrationality.  Why?  For several reasons.  Keep these observations in mind:

1) When dealing with an individual in a "cold" and emotionally unaroused state, don't assume they are going to be the same way when they are under the influence of emotions of any kind, whether it be happiness, anger, sadness, stress, confusion, etc etc..  When we are unaroused, we assume that we will act in a logical and consistent manner while under emotional arousal or stress.  Often times, this is false and we have absolutely no idea how we will act or what we will do when we aren't in a cold rational state.

2) We come from different backgrounds and drastically different experiences.  This can lead different people to view the same situation in radically different ways.  We really have no idea why we hold the preferences that we do and why some things that frustrate us greatly seem to have no emotional effect on others.  There is no way to accurately identify the root cause for a majority of our predispositions.

3) Neurologically speaking, we do NOT know how decisions are actually made and what happens in the brain, at a molecular level, when an individual has to make a choice.  It's still a mystery.  So, when a person makes a decision, at the most basic level, we have no idea how that decision was made and what kind of biological influences and reactions were at play.  Why did you decide to cut that driver off today but restrained yourself yesterday?

4) We are unconsciously influenced by a plethora of contextual and environmental factors.  The sheer amount of ways that we can be emotionally/mentally primed without even realizing it is immense.  The power of roles, costumes, anonymity, authority, and an unpredictable/unfamiliar environment can have a powerful influence on who you think you are and how you think you will behave in different contexts.  Consider yourself living in a first-world country in an urban setting and then realizing how differently you might act if you were placed in a third-world rural village with contaminated food and water and no social support of any kind for miles.  Chances are that you will behave in ways that will surprise you.  Does this mean you aren't who you thought you were?

5) Our willpower and ability to practice self-restraint varies throughout the day and even depends on how well fed we are.  An individual who has been dealing with crying children all day is going to be much more on edge and "touchy" than someone who has been lounging at the beach.  Does this mean that the first individual has less self-control and is just a more frustrated person in general? Absolutely not, that person's willpower has simply been depleted and their emotional restraint has diminished.

This list isn't exhaustive and there are many more factors at play that can lead to an individual behaving in unpredictable and irrational ways.  Given these observations, is it worth actively seeking and fostering friendships?  Is it worth falling into perhaps the greatest emotional abyss of them all? I am referring to love and relationships of course.  The answer is YES to all of these situations.  But, before you set yourself up for failure and disappointment, realize that you are dealing with a creature that is operating under all of the above restraints (and then some).  Don't create high expectations and be more forgiving when shit (inevitably) hits the fan.  We're only human.

The mere thought of it..

Can simply asking about your intent to engage in a specific behavior increase your likelihood of engaging in that behavior?  What if you were asked if you plan on going on a bike ride or a hike in the coming month, do you think being asked such a question will make you more likely to do these things in the near future?  Most of us would consider such a question ridiculous because we believe that we are in conscious control of our actions and preferences.  However, when put to the test, studies by behavioral scientists often show that our intuitions, justifications, and reasoning for our actions and choices are often wrong because we aren't aware of numerous environmental factors that can influence our behavior.

An example of such an intuition-breaking study was carried out by Jonathan Levav of Columbia University and Gavan J. Fitzsimons of Duke University.  These scientists set out to investigate the "mere measurement effect," which states that when individuals are asked about a specific kind of behavior, they are more likely to engage in that behavior in the future.  Much like most other research in the field of Behavioral Economics, Levav and Fitzimons came back with intriguing results.

The authors discovered that merely asking a question about a specific behavior does in fact make it more likely that people might engage in that behavior.  Levav and Gavan asked survey participants whether they plan to floss or read for pleasure more frequently in the upcoming 2 weeks. For the control group, the authors asked participants how often they think their friends will engage in these behaviors.  The rationale being that the mere-measurement effect will be active in the experimental group and not the control group because the experimental group would be visualizing themselves, not others, engaging in these behaviors. After 2 weeks, the authors asked the same participants to report on the frequency at which they engaged in these 2 behaviors.  As they expected, Levav and Gavan found statistically significant results in the experimental group and not the control group.

 The authors continued with further experiments that I won't outline here. They concluded that the "simple act of stating one’s intent to engage in a behavior is associated with an increased likelihood of subsequently engaging in the behavior when it is easy to mentally represent or imagine. Participants asked their intention to engage in a behavior were more likely to enact the behavior when mentally simulating it was an easier task."

The findings here can be applied in a variety of settings. In the environmental context, questionnaires and surveys can be used to promote higher levels of environmentally-conscious behavior.  For instance, utility and waste collection companies can send out email surveys or paper surveys asking their ratepayers how much they plan to recycle in the coming month or how much water they plan to conserve. Merely asking these questions should have a positive effect on the incidence of these behaviors because the participants would mentally visualize and simulate ways on how they would go about in engaging in these actions. These visual representations should theoretically make it more likely that they will engage in the desired behaviors.  Such tactics can potentially be cost-effective ways of promoting behavioral change.

Source: http://www.mybiolumix.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Survey-excellentiStock.jpg

84 months vs. 7 years

Do you consider yourself as someone who cannot be manipulated without consciously being aware of it?  Can something as simple as changing the scale from 1-10 to 100-1000 have an effect on you?  A recent study shows that it certainly can (How to Make a 29% Increase Look Bigger: The Unit Effect in Option Comparisons. Author(s): Mario Pandelaere, Barbara Briers, Christophe Lembregts. Source: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 38, No. 2 (August 2011), pp. 308-322).  The choice of units when presenting quantitative information can have profound effects on your perceptions, choices, and preferences.

The authors of this study make several observations that they continue to support with experimental data.  The authors find that consumers tend to focus on the "the number rather than the type of units in which information is expressed."  In other words, if you present information on two choices using months and years, your average viewer is much more likely to notice the number of months and years instead of the fact that one choice is represented with months and the other choice is represented in years.  By focusing primarily on the number, rather than the unit, the viewer mistakenly believes that the difference between two choices is actually much larger than it actually is.  For instance, when judging the difference between 20 tons and 25 tons, and 40,000 pounds and 50,000 pounds, the viewer will mistakenly believes that the difference in the 40,000-50,000 case is greater than the difference in the 20-25 case, even though the difference is exactly the same.  The fact that one example uses bigger values tends to throw off mental calculations because viewers are looking at the numbers in absolute terms and ignoring the units involved.

In another example, "people incorrectly believe cancer is riskier when statistics report that it affects 1286 of every 10,000 persons than when they report that it causes the death of 24.1 per 100 persons." Consequently, as numbers get larger, quantity differences are perceived to be greater than they actually are.  When perceptions are affected, there are real consequences in people's behavior, perceptions, and choices.

To test their hypotheses, the authors conducted 4 different studies where they increased the scale of the units involved. For instance, in one of their studies, the authors presented the study participants with information on calories.  The two groups of participants were given the choice of an apple or a Twix bar.  With the first group of participants, the calorie information on both food items was presented in Kilojoules, which resulted in greater calorie quantities in absolute terms.  With the second group, information was presented in Kilocalories, which resulted in smaller quantities in absolute terms. The authors found that "participants were more likely to choose the apple in the kilojoules condition compared to the kilocalories condition" at statistically significant levels (p=.03).  The apple became a more popular choice because the participants believed it had a high energy content in absolute terms. Across all studies, the authors found statistically significant results that are consistent with initial hypotheses.

 The authors' findings can be applied in ways that promote consumers to engage in more environmentally sustainable behavior.  For instance, what if a local city council is trying to urge citizens to conserve and create less waste?  The local officials can apply this study's findings  when using statistics to show how much waste an average household in the city generates per year.  The waste amount can be listed in smaller units to make the problem seem bigger and more important.  For instance, when waste statistics at the city level are being presented, pounds can be used as the units of measurement instead of tons.  A resident seeing "500,000 pounds" might be more prone to being persuaded than seeing "250 tons."  Much like in the cancer statistic example, the waste problem can be perceived as more severe if the information is presented in units that make the problem seem bigger in absolute terms.  Once perceptions are affected, behavior will be easier to change.

Ultimately, the authors' findings can be used in many other contexts to promote beneficial behavior.

Source:  http://studenttrip.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/bg_twix.png%3Fw%3D279%26h%3D298

The secret to a better memory

Do you consider yourself as someone with a poor or strong memory? Well, your answer is irrelevant because there are strategies you can use to drastically improve your memory no matter how strong or weak your memory is.  The key lesson to remember is that humans excel at visual and spatial memory and we work better when we have context. We are terrible at remembering isolated facts and abstract ideas.  To create strong memories, we need to infuse them with clearly visual and concrete characteristics.  We need to imagine directly interacting with the memory in some form through touch or smell or any other non-abstract method of interaction.  By doing this, we are connecting the memory to our powerful senses such as sight and smell.  An additional tool to use is to connect the memory to something unexpected or emotional or humorous.  Our brains are wired to filter out the ordinary and the banal so we aren't overloaded with information.  As a result, a lot of important information that your brain deems ordinary or mundane can get filtered out and we become forgetful.  On the other hand, if something is unexpected, humorous, or emotional, you are much more likely to remember it.

All of this should seem familiar to previous blog entries about aiming for concreteness, eliciting emotions and using unexpectedness.  The best way to drive the point home is through using these strategies on one thorough example.

Imagine you are going to give a presentation and there are a list of items that you need to go through.  Unfortunately, you are having a difficult time trying to keep the list together in your head.  Let's assume this is the list with the topics you need to discuss:

• Profits are up due to a recent partnership with a firm in Japan.
• The company computer systems have been updated and run 30% more efficiently.
• A new competitor has risen and is providing similar products at cheaper prices.
• Your technical employees are unhappy and morale is down.
• There has been negative press coverage lately about the company's environmental track record.

As you can clearly see, these ideas are rather abstract and you might have a difficult time remembering all of them while you are giving the presentation.  Our brains aren't great at remembering the concepts in this list because they are abstract, they lack concreteness, they aren't visual, they aren't emotional, and they aren't unexpected or surprising or out of the ordinary.  The goal in this case is to take these kinds of memories and transform them into the types of memories that our brains excel at.

How can we convert these memories to something that is vivid, engaging, has spacial context, and is novel and marvelous? Your first step is to visualize a place in your mind where you can physically "store" these memories.  Think of a place that you know really well, like your childhood home.  For me, I am going to visualize my current home.

The first item on the list deals with profits due to a partnership with a firm in Japan.  To add a visual aspect to this image, I am going to imagine a Japanese man in a business suit standing in my driveway (I have physically "stored" him at a specific location now).  His suit is green and it has a giant dollar sign on it. He has his hand extended and is getting ready to shake mine.  I have taken this abstract idea and have made it concrete and placed him in a spacial context I am familiar with.

The next item deals with computer systems and efficiency.  I am now imagining walking into my house and into the living room.  There seems to be an enormous computer in the middle of the room with giant muscular arms coming out of its side.  It's flexing them and showing off about how quick it is.  I have now turned this boring and abstract item about computers and efficiency into this ridiculous and surreal visual image of a giant computer with big muscly arms.  This is an image I won't forget any time soon.

The next item of discussion is a new competitor.  For this, I am now walking into my kitchen and there seems to be a smooth-looking fellow in a black suit smoking a cigar.  He is arrogantly looking at me while he is surrounded with the products that he is selling at cheaper prices.  There is now an emotional attachment to this item on the list because this fellow's arrogance is making me angry.  I have turned the abstract idea of competition into a concrete and emotional image of an arrogant and annoying man in a black suit.

You continue with this strategy for the rest of the items on the list.  Once you are done with the list, you have created memories that are generally visual, concrete, emotional, humorous, and unexpected.  The next step is to mentally walk back through the scenario you have created. I am now once again approaching my home.  Why is there this Japanese fellow standing in my driveway with an obnoxious green suit?? OH! That's right, this is about the partnership with a firm in Japan.  

Upon entering my living room, I see this huge computer that resembles a muscular man.  Why is it flexing its giant arms and bragging? Was this something about computers and their speed? YES! The next item deals with computer efficiency.

I now enter the kitchen and this arrogant fellow with a cigar is staring at me and mockingly smirking.  He is surrounded by a bunch of products.  Why is he behaving like this? I hope by now you get the idea.  The goal during this whole exercise was to connect abstract and mundane concepts and memories to vivid images and examples that are much more easily remembered.  

I encourage you to try this method for yourself.  Try memorizing a list of ideas, items, or concepts without using the strategy outlined above. Now, try remembering a list by using the strategies discussed here. I can guarantee that the method discussed here will create much stronger memories that will be easier to recall and leave a lasting impression.

Source:  http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2008/08/29/memory36969112_crop.jpg 

References:

Foer, Joshua. Moonwalking With Einstein.

The Importance of Feedback

We learn much quicker and more effectively when we receive feedback on our work.  All of us have most likely had experience with not receiving feedback on our performance.  The experience was likely fraught with confusion and frustration and areas of improvement were difficult to clearly identify.  Consider the example of turning in an essay draft as a college student.  You are given back the draft and asked to improve your work.  However, there are no additional notes, comments, or details on how and in which areas you can improve.  This is essentially what happens when you want someone to change their behavior without receiving feedback on their performance.

Perhaps the most relevant context for this issue is energy conservation.  Providing prompt and accurate feedback that communicates to users whether they are performing well or poorly is essential for any policy aimed at promoting environmentally conscious behavior. Human learning is closely guided by the amount and quality of feedback that is readily available and consumers who do not have access to feedback are very likely to make poor decisions and be confused about what choices are in their best interest. Experimental field data shows that when participants in households are given a goal, they are able to perform much better when consistent feedback is present. Furthermore, the frequency of the feedback matters as well. The more frequent the feedback is, the higher the performance levels are. Households that receive feedback more often conserve more energy than those that do not.

Studies with “smart meters,” which provide immediate and visual feedback of energy consumption further illustrate this point. With such devices, the costs (both monetary and potentially environmental) associated with energy use are made immediately available in a visual manner. The devices also give comparison data using past energy use levels, allowing users to detect consumption irregularities. Behavioral studies conclude that such devices are excellent tools for nudging and allowing consumers to be constantly aware of their energy usage. With the combination of feedback technologies such as smart meters and a way for consumers to compare themselves to other similar users, the potential for changing behavior could be very promising.


References

"Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness"

Beshears, John. "How Are Preferences Revealed?" Journal of Public Economics 92.8-9 (2008)

Abrahamse, Wokje, and Linda Steg. "A Review of Intervention Studies Aimed at Household Energy Conservation."

All your friends are reading this

Have you ever found yourself in a foreign situation where it was unclear what you should be doing and what is the proper way to act?  Did you find yourself looking unto others around you as an example for guiding your own behavior?  This is a very common situation that most people are very likely familiar with.  If you can relate, you have been affected by Social Proof.


Social proof leads us to look at others to determine what is the correct behavior for the situation that we are in.  More often than not, when a lot of people are doing something, it's usually the right thing to do.  So, it makes sense why this phenomena  is so powerful and guides people's behavior.  We are risk averse and most of us won't publicly go "against the crowd" and take social risks, which can end in public embarrassment.  Most of us are also imitators, and not initiators.  Imitation is safe.  Imitation doesn't involve taking risks and paving new paths.  If the crowd is acting in a particular way, we assume they know something we don't.  Of course, sometimes the problem is that everyone is thinking the same thing and no one actually knows something you don't.

We are especially prone to following the actions of others when the situation is full of uncertainty and we are unsure of ourselves.  This is taken a step further if we consider the individuals we are observing as similar to ourselves.  For instance, if you are a college student, you are much more likely to take social hints from fellow college students than from seniors.

Advertisers realize the power of Social Proofing and they use it whenever possible.  Think about all the times you have seen an "average customer" or "ordinary person" give a testimony for a particular product.  One recent example that comes to mind is a commercial by ITT Tech.  They often show actual students from their program talking about their successes:

The advertiser is using Social Proof to get its point across.  The audience is much more likely to relate to a student than a professor. They are also much more likely to follow a student's words, who they are more likely similar to.

It's a shame that public agencies don't utilize similar strategies.  For instance, I mentioned a Metro advertisement in a previous blog entry that urged drivers to take the subway to the Dodgers Stadium.  This ad can be made much more effective through the inclusion of a picture depicting a baseball fan taking the metro.  A slogan could be used as well: "Thousands of drivers like yourself have switched.  Why haven't you?"  This ad would apply the principles of Social Proof and be more effective at promoting behavioral change.

The next time you find yourself squirming and looking around for social clues, realize that you are already under the powerful influence of Social Proof.

Get em' to commit

Being consistent with your beliefs, staying true to your word, and keeping your promises are all characteristics that most of us strive for.  Why is this so?  Perhaps part of the explanation is the way people view inconsistent individuals.  These individuals are generally seen as unpredictable, fickle, uncertain unreliable, untrustworthy, confused, and possibly mentally ill.  Put simply, a person who generally doesn't stick to his word and behave consistently is viewed unfavorably and not respected.  Such a situation is obviously very troubling and detrimental in both social and professional settings.  Although a case could perhaps be made that two-faced individuals get far in the professional world... On the other hand, if a person is consistent and true to his beliefs, he is often respected and admired.  This individual is often seen as someone you can trust and rely on because they aren't going to change their minds and back out of commitments.

Given how strong the pressure of being consistent is and the severe social consequences of failing to be consistent, it shouldn't be surprising that these same tendencies can be used to manipulate individuals in a variety of settings towards beneficial or detrimental ends.  One of the main paths for utilizing the strong desire to be consistent is through extracting commitments.  If you can make an individual  take a stand, ideally in a manner that involves others being aware of the commitment, then you might be able to set the consistency machinery in motion.  Once the stand is taken, there is a strong tendency to act in accordance to that initial commitment or else risk being viewed as inconsistent and suffer the consequences.  An additional step can be taken to make the commitment even stronger.  You can ask the person to describe why they are making the commitment.  This creates an even greater initial investment and makes it that much more likely that consistency pressures will win out.

Additionally, commitments can be used to change a person's self-image.  Once this change occurs, its effects are lasting and can apply to other relevant situations. Once the pressure to be consistent is set in motion, it is very difficult to stop.  The new commitment takes on a life of its own and future decisions, thinking patterns, and perspectives start to be filtered through the lens of the commitment.  In essence, all upcoming commitments and decisions further strengthen the initial one that started the trend.  For instance, if you get a person to publicly admit they value volunteer work, you will have an easier time convincing them to volunteer their time and show support in a variety of different settings.  This individual will also more likely  be favorable towards arguments that emphasize the benefits of civic engagement and volunteerism.  Every time a new related situation arises, the committed individual has to ask himself: "Is my current decision in line with what I promised I would do?" If the individual rejects your requests, he has the difficult task of internally (and perhaps externally) justifying his inconsistent behavior.  People generally do not enjoy being seen as fickle or inconsistent with their behavior and priorities, especially if others are aware of their initial commitments.

These behavioral findings can be applied in a variety of real-world settings.  For instance, I recently saw an ad by Metro for taking the subway to the Dodgers stadium.  The poster was advertising a shuttle service that leaves from Union Station and takes passengers to the Dodgers Stadium on game nights. This particular ad  could have been improved by the addition of messages such as, "Do you enjoy traffic? Do you enjoy the frustration of trying to find parking AND having to pay for it? Do you enjoy spending money on gas?"  These questions could get the audience to commit to a particular perspective that would make it more favorable for taking the subway.  The onlookers might think, "Wait a minute.. if I agree with these statements, why do I keep driving to the stadium and dealing with all this nonsense?"  The poster could end with this punchline, "Yet you still drive to the stadium instead of taking the subway..."  A poster such as this could potentially be much more effective than the current bland one being used which merely advertises the existence of the service and does nothing else to change behavior.

These findings can also be applied in another example dealing with community involvement.  For instance, the organization "TreePeople" allies itself with members of the community to plant trees, install bioswales, and construct rain gardens (in addition to many other projects).  The success of these projects largely depends on the continual involvement of the community members because without constant maintenance, the trees can wither away and die, the rain gardens can be infested with weeds, and the bioswales can get clogged with trash.  To help ensure continued involvement by community members, TreePeople can ask for a verbal or public commitment.  For instance, during the initial big gathering when the project is being constructed or installed, the staff members can ask all the community members present to verbally pledge their continued support.  This pledge should be asked after the work for the day is finished and the volunteers have already made the initial commitment.  Another idea might involve displaying a plaque on the property of one of the homeowners in the neighborhood.  The plaque can briefly mention the project and publicly display the continued support of the members of the community.  Later on, when maintenance is required, it will hopefully be more difficult for these community members to not get involved because doing so would mean they are being inconsistent with their initial pledge.

Whatever methods are ultimately used, the goal should be to tap into the powerful desire to be consistent.  Once this mechanism is accessed, behavioral change and compliance is much more likely.