Here’s a scenario: say you encounter a normal looking stranger who is overloaded with papers and books and about to drop everything. As you pass by, s/he asks if you could hold her/his coffee cup for a second. If you held it, would the coffee’s status as iced or hot affect your judgments about *other* people over the course of that day?
It seems ridiculous, but apparently the answer is yes. When this experiment was carried out on students at Yale, the results were clear:
The students who held a cup of iced coffee rated a hypothetical person they later read about as being much colder, less social and more selfish than did their fellow students, who had momentarily held a cup of hot java.
How ’bout this one: You’re taken into a room to play out an imaginary investment plan. At one end of the table sits a briefcase and a black leather portfolio, unreferenced and unclaimed. Does the presence of these objects influence how you’re likely to invest your play money? Guess what? Yes, indeed. The students involved in this experiment were “far stingier with their money” than the group who sat in an identical room where the briefcase and portfolio were replaced by a backpack. Why? Because the “business” items “primed” the students’ brains to think more competitively.
So what’s going on here? Is this some kind of subliminal advertising? As explained in a fascinating article called “Who’s Minding the Mind,”
Psychologists say that “priming” people in this way is not some form of hypnotism, or even subliminal seduction; rather, it’s a demonstration of how everyday sights, smells and sounds can selectively activate goals or motives that people already have.
In another example, students were administered a questionnaire. Half completed it in a room with a light scent of citrus cleaning fluid, the other half in a room with no scent. Everyone was rewarded with a “crumbly biscuit.” Without any verbal prompting whatsoever, the students in the citrus-scented room brushed away their crumbs *three times* more often than the students in the other room.
Isn’t that kind of freaky? Who exactly is in charge here, our conscious brain or our subconscious brain? From the article:
The give and take between these unconscious choices and our rational, conscious aims can help explain some of the more mystifying realities of behavior, like how we can be generous one moment and petty the next, or act rudely at a dinner party when convinced we are emanating charm.… In several studies, researchers have shown that, once covertly activated, an unconscious goal persists with the same determination that is evident in our conscious pursuits.
It would seem the “good news” part of this equation is that if we could channel some of this powerful subconscious motivation, we could cure ourselves of all manner of bad habits, right? The answer is, not really. Unfortunately, the researchers say, “Using subtle cues for self-improvement is something like trying to tickle yourself… as soon as people feel they’re being manipulated, they do the opposite; it backfires.” Rats. Or, should I say, lizards.
Well, you can tell someone to tickle you.
how many people in the scented room study asked “why am i being rewarded with a crumbly biscuit?”
[...] Attack of the Reptile Brain [image]Here’s a scenario: say you encounter a normal looking stranger who is overloaded with papers and books and […] [...]
You may not be able to use these subliminal messages to tickle yourself but you certainly can use them to influence the opinions of others about you. In the sales world (where I live), a very effective technique to use with customers is “mirroring.” This is adopting the pace of speech, the body language and manner of your customer—he will like you better and become more attached to you emotionally–and will be more willing to buy from you.
Another technique is to get the customer to give something to you. For example, ina a customer conversation, you might say “This sounds really interesting, Mr. Customer. Do you have a pencil so I can jot this down?” The simple act of giving something begins a pattern which you hope will lead to him giving you an order.
What? Didn’t your mother tell you the old “if a stranger asks you to hold his iced coffee, you’ll read about a selfish person that day” gypsy saying? I thought everyone knew that!
John Molloy, the Dress for Success guy, has done quite a lot of this sort of analysis in his books; it’s quite fascinating. He mentions the pencil thing, but takes it several steps further. One of his clients deliberately kept blueprints rolled up in tubes so that potential clients had to help him hold down the corners. Once they were physically committed, it was much easier to get a mental and legal commitment out of them.
[...] Attack of the Reptile Brain [image]Here’s a scenario: say you encounter a normal looking stranger who is overloaded with papers and books and […] [...]
The real question is what happens if you tell someone to tickle themselves and hold your coffee while you shove a cookie in their mouth?
This goes back to the old “iceberg principle” – 90% of our motivations are unconscious. Most people think they are in charge of themselves and making their own choices, but that 90% is what’s calling the shots.
Advertisers and marketers understand this. Ever heard of an industrial psychologist? What makes you buy that certain brand at the grocery story.
I think the more aware an individual is of these unconscious drives, the more they can start thinking for themselves instead of just “being thought.” I remember and old analogy from a UCLA professor “most people are like badly wired robots.”
Ironically, I have seen a lot of research that suggests we can channel this so-called subconscious motivation to better ourselves. I’ve personally seen people get results through certain types of meditation. So keep fighting to “know thyself.”
I found your blog from google search and read your posts. It’s fun and I just add your blog to my Google Reader.