I was reading a book called '50 Psychology Classics' recently, which quickly summarizes 50 great pieces of psychology.
One of the psychological processes I read about that I thought worth mentioning is the 'consistency' blindspot. I can't remember the specific name of the theory or the psychologist as I don't have the book handy, but the basic gist of the theory mentioned that there are certain facets of our behaviour that are mostly automatic and conditioning driven (we have little control over them).
One of these blindspots is that people tend to like to be consistent: if they hold one theory in their mind for a prolonged period of time they are more likely to stick with that theory. If a salesperson gets them to mention that they are interested in a product they are less likely to do an about face and change their mind.
So at it's core people tend not to change their minds about things, which is a huge problem when successfully navigating the world. If you decide to go to an expensive restaurant that you can't afford, it's better for you to change your mind and cancel then to go through with it to save face, that type of thing.
Anyway, I also highly suggest checking out that book .. with psychology there's no real need to read a 300 page book on a concept that can be summed in a page or two, and it presents a lot of great ideas like this.
One of the psychological processes I read about that I thought worth mentioning is the 'consistency' blindspot. I can't remember the specific name of the theory or the psychologist as I don't have the book handy, but the basic gist of the theory mentioned that there are certain facets of our behaviour that are mostly automatic and conditioning driven (we have little control over them).
One of these blindspots is that people tend to like to be consistent: if they hold one theory in their mind for a prolonged period of time they are more likely to stick with that theory. If a salesperson gets them to mention that they are interested in a product they are less likely to do an about face and change their mind.
So at it's core people tend not to change their minds about things, which is a huge problem when successfully navigating the world. If you decide to go to an expensive restaurant that you can't afford, it's better for you to change your mind and cancel then to go through with it to save face, that type of thing.
Anyway, I also highly suggest checking out that book .. with psychology there's no real need to read a 300 page book on a concept that can be summed in a page or two, and it presents a lot of great ideas like this.