Six psychological effects that distort the perception of reality

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Learn about the most frequent tricks of the brain to no longer fall for them.

Spotlight effect
A person is inclined to exaggerate the interest of other people to his person. Imagine: you stupidly stumbled on the street or noticed a spot on the shirt halfway to work. It seems that everyone saw it as if you were illuminated by a bright beam of a searchlight, and the attention of those around you is entirely focused only on you.
In fact, it is not. Someone will really pay attention to the spot or your clumsiness, but not all. And they will not give it as much as you think.

Belief in the justice of the world
People believe that justice will prevail: good deeds will be rewarded, and scoundrels will be punished. And if trouble happens to a bad person, we think: “That's right for him, he deserved it.”
A person just needs to know that life is fair and everyone will get what they deserve. Someone calls it God's will or karma, but the essence does not change.

Placebo effect
At the heart of the effect is the mighty power of suggestion. Placebo is a non-healing medicine, which is offered to the patient as an effective remedy for his problem. As a result, the person is waiting for the result, and after a while, he really feels better - this is the placebo effect.

The effect of the audience
A person does the same thing differently in solitude and in the presence of other people. Moreover, observers can influence both positively and negatively. For example, a person will be better able to cope with a well-known job and worse perform new tasks when someone else is with him.

Psychologist Robert Zajonc believed that observers are the cause of excitement because their reaction to human actions is unpredictable. When a person does what he knows and knows, it is easier for him to cope with psychological stress and fear of evaluation than if he takes on a completely new unfamiliar task.

** The effect of Google, or digital amnesia**
People stopped remembering information that can be easily found on the web. It is no longer needed. The Internet simplifies life: everything that used to be stored in a library or a person’s memory is now available at the click of a mouse. Information is perceived, but the brain thinks that it is not necessary to concentrate and remember it because there is Google.

Barnum Effect or Forer Effect
We consider accurate the general characteristics of our personality if we think that they were created specifically for us.

Psychologist Bertram Forer invited a group of students to take the test. The participants completed the task and handed over the papers for processing, which they did not actually carry out. Forer simply compiled one general description of the personality, suitable for everyone, and presented it to the students. He called students one by one and asked them to evaluate the accuracy of the characteristics on a five-point scale. The result was an average score of 4.26. That is, according to the participants, the accuracy was high