9 psychological effects you MUST know

Introduction. The human mind is a complex, mysterious machine. But the machine has an underlying logic - internal rules which have been discovered via ingenious psychological experiments. Discover nine effects that will help you understand yourself and other people better👇

Zeigarnik effect: Unfinished tasks are better remembered. Humans have a powerful need for coherent narratives - when an activity or conversation is left hanging, It's like an unscratched itch. The brain holds onto it. Application: Leave conversations unfinished to be memorable.

Pratfall effect: A person perceived as competent becomes more likeable after making a mistake, but a person seen as incompetent becomes less likeable. Competent people become more relatable when they commit an error. Application: Establish competence, then mess something up.

Severity of initiation effect: The harder it is to enter an arrangement, the more fulfilled the entrant is post-entry. Conversely, if it was too convenient to enter a company, a club, or a relationship, the entrant will downrate his estimation of it. Friction is valued.

Rhyme-as-reason effect: To boost the impact of your words, throw in some rhymes. The statement "What sobriety conceals, alcohol reveals" is universally judged truer than "What sobriety conceals, alcohol unmasks." Rhyme is linguistic symmetry, which is tied with beauty and truth.

Gain-loss theory of attraction: Your approval has more value when it's preceded by a string of disapprovals. This is why all romcoms start off with the leads hating each other. People enjoy going up in someone's estimation more than they enjoy getting high esteem from the start.

Sleeper effect: Persuasive messages paradoxically become more memorable when they contain a small disqualifying cue. Political candidates disqualify their own messages with "Paid For By..." The sleeper effect kicks in, people forget the cue over time and only recall the message.

Tetris effect: When we indulge in a game of Tetris - or any activity - for a long time, it structures our overall perception in other areas too. What we do most often becomes the filter via which we perceive the world. When sailors return from sea, the land moves like waves.

Cheerleader effect: Individually unattractive people look attractive in groups. First coined by Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, this effect has been replicated in psych experiments. The onlooker gathers an overall pleasant impression by overlooking what's unattractive.

Diderot effect: We need the products we consume to complement, and coherent with, each other. Diderot was gifted a scarlet gown that outshone everything else in his house. The incongruence disturbed him, leading to lifestyle updates that only stopped when he was sunk in debt.