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> Beyond these preliminary observations, though, there does not seem to be a well-developed and widely accepted model in the psychology literature to explain ho
by westoncb 8y ago
> Beyond these preliminary observations, though, there does not seem to be a well-developed and widely accepted model in the psychology literature to explain how character labeling makes such a difference.
Sure there is. The results can by explained by how the brain resolves/reduces cognitive dissonance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance#Reduction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance#Reduction
A central feature of many contemporary cognitive models is the notion of a 'schema,' which can be thought of as a record of beliefs/assertions on some subject. Cognitive dissonance arises when observations create a contradiction within a schema; reduction of cognitive dissonance involves modifying the schema in a way that (as best as possible) accounts for all observations. (Sometimes there isn't a good way of doing it and some pretty strange behavior may result.)
Another way of looking at it is that your schemas constrain your behavior so that the actions you take, insofar as it's possible, are consistent with both your goals and your relevant schemata.
So if you can actually modify someone's schema for the subject of their self, you can influence their behavior so that it becomes consistent with that modification.
Hence, theoretically, you tell someone they're "so compassionate" etc. and they start playing the part. Now, in practice, I doubt this will do much. Your statements are a bit of data supporting some assertion that can become part of their 'self schema,' but there's a whole lot of other data coming from other places that will conflict with the b.s. you're telling the person.
- ganzuul 8y ago"Fake it 'til you make it" in so many words.
- yosito 8y agoI believe there are also studies about the psychology of not wanting to let people down and about loss-aversion which also have an application here.
- westoncb 8y agoThat's s good point. Could definitely be an amplifying factor.
- bryanrasmussen 8y agoMy psychology teacher in high school had an anecdote - undoubtedly false because he lied a lot - about a student that one day some kids decided to do the experiment of telling him how especially nice he looked that day (he wasn't grungy or anything, supposedly a normal somewhat good looking kid in the 80s) So they told him he looked good and he seemed to be peppier for the input. But the news of the experiment had leaked, everyone started telling him how good he looked wherever he went, and as the day wore on he started to react negatively to all the positive reinforcement. At the end of the day he yelled at some girl to leave him alone who had innocently complimented him. And then it went on some weeks more because nobody realized they should stop the experiment. So he stopped taking care of his physical appearance! (remember, this was the 80s) and fast forward couple years later he was a real dirtbag punk rocker antisocial as anything. So whenever I hear this stuff I think of this apocryphal story, mainly because of how ridiculous it is.
- nabla9 8y agoVirtue labeling seems to use the cognitive dissonance the same way as the Ben Franklin effect. In fact Ben Franklin effect can be seen as subset of virtue labeling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect