PSYCHOLOGY - TO KNOW THAT YOU DON'T KNOW

In 1930 in the US, there was a clothing store by the brothers Sid and Harry. Sid took care of the wholesale, and Harry managed the sewing factory behind the store. So every time customers asked for a price, the guy Sid seemed to be forgetful and hard of hearing.

"Harry, what's the price of brown cotton near the door?" - Sid called back inside.

"$42" - Harry answered. This was a pretty "acrid" price at that time.

"How much is it?" - Sid asked.

"Forty-two-dollar" - Harry answered.

"This suit costs $22, sir," Harry told the shoppers.

Of course, the guest quickly paid and glided, before Harry realized he sold the suit half the price, even though $22 was still very high for a cotton suit in 1930. Today, modern fashion stores seem to follow very strictly the "tradition" left by Sid and Harry, by raising the price of goods and hanging the sale-off price sign.

This effect is called the "contrast effect". We are often not good at looking at the core of a problem, but often use marks to compare. The guest in Harry and Sid's story thought they had a bargain price compared to the price Harry shouted, forgetting that it was still a high price for a cotton set.

The brands are even sophisticated enough to create "decoy" - products not for sale but for boosting other products. For example, movie theaters selling small corn bags which cost 59k but bigger bags in double size for only 79k. The creation of two different bags of corn is to create a landmark for consumers to compare with each other instead of comparing it with the market price. Moviegoers will spend more money and still think they're good - although 79k/corn bag is still too expensive. Some of the theaters now make their main sales come from corn and water and associated services, not movie tickets.

Feeling about appearance is also affected by the contrast effect. When you go with friends who have a more beautiful appearance, you will become a landmark. Your friend will become more attractive to others.

Satisfaction is also influenced by the contrast effect. Many people will feel satisfied with their country before setting foot on other developed countries. When they had a milestone to compare, they realized that it was just because they haven't stepped out of their zone and things weren't really that good.

Just taking a short stroll, along with this guy named "contrast effect", we have seen the personal feeling affected by so many things. There are hundreds of such effects that we are experiencing without knowing it.

Earlier in the week, I talked a little bit about the Halo effect. This effect is about when you're beautiful, everything you say is true. A beautiful person makes it easy for others to feel that they are also kind and intelligent, even if it has nothing to do with it.

The contrast effect to the Halo Effect is the Horn Effect. The bottom line is: when you are ugly, everything you do is annoying. It is easy for us to have negative judgments about education and qualifications for people who do not look good, even if they have not uttered any sentences.

These two effects are the reason why you still find someone fascinated sometimes until they open their mouth and say something. And that's why people who don't look right have to put more effort into winning the hearts of others - and have to repeat that effort every time they meet new friends.

Knowing these things is bad.

On the one hand, I realized that the world we always saw might not be the one that people lived, and it was even way too different from the one that it was initially.

On the other hand, I also realized that human psychology is creating injustices in the world.

There is another effect called "self-fulfilling prophecy": the way you treat someone influence their behavior. Robert Rosenthal did a classroom experiment. He randomly picked out a few to tell the teacher that they were smart. As a result, children who are told to be smart were treated better by their teachers and studied better than the rest.

When researching for Halo Effect and Horn Effect, I have read many studies showing the effects of these two at work, school, and home. It seems these absurdities are gradually becoming the truth that needs to be accepted.

Perhaps in a world where everyone has their own bias, injustice will be seen as evident as "it's the way things goes". Instead of telling each other to look at the truth, people often advise others about ways to bypass social prejudices. For example, they often say, "Be more beautiful," instead of pointing out the truth of the world. But I only see guys who are born good-looking say so to others.

Or maybe they're right, maybe looking at the truth doesn't help.

The psychological effects are still many. See you next week