10 Psychological experiments that will change thinking about yourself. pt.2
1. We want membership and we quickly enter into conflicts with other groups
This classic experiment in the field of social psychology shed light on the phenomenon of joining groups, standing in opposition to foreign groups, confusing relationships between some countries and cooperation among others.
Muzafer Sherif organized a holiday camp for 22 boys, whom he randomly divided into two teams - Eagles and Rattles. They spent a week together at Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma, playing games and playing together. But as soon as the boys got to know each other better and integrated, they started to compete in the games, there were growing conflicts. In the end, the groups refused to eat together. Sherif decided to win over the feuding groups. First, he offered them mutual pleasures, which failed the exam, and then gave them a task that they could only solve by cooperating. It became a hit.
2. Only one thing is necessary for happiness
Harvard Grant is one of the longest-lasting research in the history of psychology. It took 75 years and included 268 Harvard students, who were regularly studied all their lives. Researchers collected information about various aspects of their lives. Based on these studies, they came to one conclusion. Only love matters in life. At least when it comes to long-term happiness and life satisfaction.
Longtime research manager, psychiatrist George Vaillant, told the Huffington Post that there are two pillars of happiness: one is love. And the second is to find a way to live a life in which love does not reject. One of the surveyed students began an experiment with the lowest notes in the stabilization category. He even had a suicide attempt. But he graduated as one of the happier ones. He survived his life looking for love.
3. We need high self-esteem and social status to fully develop.
Successes and achievements are not just a matter of the inflated ego. It is also a way to longevity - according to the research of multiple Oscar winners. Researchers from the Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center found that the actors and directors who won the Oscar lived on average four years longer than those nominated by the Academy.
- We do not say that if you win an Oscar, you will live longer - said Donald Radelmeier, the author of the research - or that people should go on an acting course. We only think that social factors are important ... We suggest that the inner conviction of their own high self-esteem is an aspect of health and longevity.
4. We justify our behavior until they make sense
The theory of cognitive dissonance says that people have a natural tendency to avoid a psychological conflict based on mutually exclusive beliefs. In a frequently cited experiment, prof. Leon Festinger asked subjects to perform boring activities for quite some time. Then they paid a dollar or twenty to tell the next examinee that the task was extremely interesting. The respondents, who were paid less, praised the task more. Why? Those who got a higher payment just explained their commitment to a boring job. Those who did not earn, however, had the need to find a different argument - for example, such that the task is interesting in itself and that's why they got involved in it. This shows how sometimes we deceive ourselves so that the world would seem more logical.
5. We use stereotypes every day
Stereotypical perception of people belonging to different groups is something that we do even when we try very hard to avoid unjust simplifications. Psychologist John Bargh conducted an experiment on automatisms in social behavior. He showed that we often evaluate people unconsciously using stereotypes. In one of Bargh's experiments, people who read words related to old age (Florida, helplessness, wrinkled) slowed down much more slowly through the corridor than people who read words not related to old age. Bargh has recreated his successful experiment using racial stereotypes. - When we use stereotypes - the color of the skin, age, race of the other person, and our mind responds with the slogans "stupid", "worse", "slower", it is worth knowing that it is not a reflection of the real state of affairs.
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