A famous magician named Shawman Barnum commented on his performance that the reason why he is very popular is because the show contains elements that everyone likes, so he makes "every minute there is someone Deceived". People often think that a general and general personality description reveals their own characteristics very accurately. Psychology calls this tendency the "Barnum effect."
After a psychologist completed the Minnesota Polyphasic Personality Checklist (MMPI) for a group of people, he took out two results for the participants to judge which one was their own. In fact, one is the participant's own result, and the other is the result of the average answer of the majority. Participants even thought that the latter more accurately expressed their personality characteristics.
Barnum effect is very common in life. Take fortune telling as an example. Many people think that the fortune teller is "very accurate" after consulting a fortune teller. In fact, those who ask for fortune-telling are inherently vulnerable to suggestion. When people's emotions are low and frustrated, they lose control of their lives and their sense of security is also affected. A person who is insecure has a much stronger psychological dependence, and his suggestibility is stronger than usual. In addition, the fortune teller is good at figuring out people's inner feelings, and a little bit can understand the feelings of the helper, and the helper will immediately feel a kind of spiritual comfort. The fortune teller's next general, non-trivial remark will convince the seeker.
Einstein was a very playful child when he was a child, and his mother was often worried about it. His mother's repeated warnings seemed to him. It wasn't until the autumn of the age of 16 that one morning, his father stopped Einstein who was going to fish in the river and told him a story. It was this story that changed Einstein's life.
Father said: "Yesterday, our neighbor Uncle Jack and I went to clean a large chimney in the south. The chimney can only be climbed up by stepping on the steel ladder inside. Your Uncle Jack is in front and I am behind. We are holding the handrails one step and one step. The stairs finally climbed up. When you came down, your Uncle Jack was still walking in front, and I still followed. Later, when we got out of the chimney, we found a strange thing: Your Uncle Jack’s back and face I was blackened by the soot in the chimney, and I didn't even have any soot on me."
Einstein’s father continued to smile and said, “I saw your uncle Jack’s appearance, and thought I must be like him, with a dirty face like a clown, so I went to the nearby river to wash and wash. And you Uncle Jack, he saw that I was clean when I got out of the chimney. He thought he was as clean as me. He just washed his hands and went to the street. As a result, everyone on the street laughed and broke their stomachs. , I thought your Uncle Jack was a lunatic."
Einstein listened and couldn't help laughing with his father. After his father laughed, he solemnly said to him: "In fact, no one else can be your mirror, only you are your own mirror. Using others as a mirror, an idiot might look like a genius."
2000 years ago, the ancient Greeks engraved "Know Yourself" as an inscription on the doorpost of the Temple of Apollo. However, people cannot help but regret to say that the goal of "knowing yourself" is still far away from us. To explore the reasons, we cannot fail to mention the "Barnum Effect" in psychology
In daily life, we can neither reflect on ourselves all the time nor always place ourselves in the position of outsiders to observe ourselves, so we can only use external information to know ourselves. Because of this, everyone is susceptible to being implied by external information when knowing oneself, getting lost in the environment, being hinted by surrounding information, and taking the words and deeds of others as a reference for their actions. The "Barnum effect" refers to the psychological tendency that people are susceptible to hints from outside information, which leads to deviations in self-perception, and that a general and general personality description reveals themselves very accurately. specialty.
There are several ways to avoid the Barnum effect and to know yourself objectively and truthfully:
First, learn to face yourself. There is such a test of the emotional intelligence of a person: When a woman who has fallen into a coma is rescued, she wakes up and finds herself naked, what will her first reaction be to cover? The answer was a scream, and then covered his eyes with both hands.
Psychologically speaking, this is a typical example of reluctance to face oneself, because oneself has a "defect" or thinks it is a defect, so you can cover it up by your own methods, but this cover is actually like the above Like a woman falling into the water, she blindfolded her. Therefore, to know yourself, you must first face yourself.
Second, cultivate a kind of information gathering ability and keen judgment. Few people are born with wise and prudent judgment. In fact, judgment is the ability to make decisions based on the collection of information. The role of information in supporting judgment cannot be ignored. Without considerable information collection, it is difficult to do Make a wise decision.
There is a story that a child who mows lawns called a Mrs. Chen and said, "Do you need to mow the lawn?" Mrs. Chen replied, "No, I already have a lawn mower." The child said again: "I will help you pull out the weeds in the flowers." Mrs. Chen replied: "My lawn mower has done it too." The child said again, "I will help you cut the grass and around the walkway. Qi." Mrs. Chen said, "The person I asked for has already done it. Thank you, I don't need a new lawn mower." The child hung up the phone. The child’s elder brother asked him, “Aren’t you working at Mrs. Chen’s lawn mowing? Why do you still call this?” The child said with a smug smile, “I just want to know how well I’m doing!”
This child can be said to be very concerned about collecting information about himself, so he can predict his future growth and possible achievements, which is by no means comparable to ordinary children.
Third, use people as a mirror to understand yourself by comparing yourself in various aspects with those around you. When comparing, the choice of objects is crucial. If you compare yourself with someone who is not as good as yourself, or compare your shortcomings with the strengths of others, you will be biased. Therefore, according to your own actual situation, you should choose people with the same conditions for comparison, and find out your proper position in the group. Only in this way can you be more objective in understanding yourself.
Fourth, know yourself through major events, especially major successes and failures. The experience and lessons learned from major events can provide information about one's own personality and abilities, and discover one's strengths and weaknesses. The more you are at the peak of success and the trough of failure, the more you can reflect a person's true character.
Some people say, "Know yourself when you succeed, and friends when you fail." There is a certain truth, but in the final analysis, all we know are ourselves. Whether it is success or failure, we should adhere to the dialectical point of view, not ignore the strengths and advantages, but also recognize the shortcomings and deficiencies.
Fifth, avoid the psychological stereotype of the first impression; due to the existence of the halo effect, when people evaluate the received information, whether it is a person or an object, there will always be preconceived, forming cognition; when they encounter similar people or Objects will refer to the memory formed by the first cognition, and change over time to form an unconscious psychological set.
The most practical way to avoid this unconscious psychological stereotype is: self-denial! Think carefully and quickly judge the evaluation and judgments, and change the feedback consciousness.
Sixth, avoid emotional judgment; any judgment and choice need to evaluate the benefits and risks. The correctness of this evaluation requires rationality as the leading role, rather than pure "good or bad" feelings. (Unless this choice and judgment are decisions made to ease emotions)
When you make choices and judgments when you have emotions, you will definitely lack rationality. If emotions are not controlled or resolved, people will be unable to maintain rational thinking because of emotions. Therefore, when making choices and judgments, it is best to resolve emotions first.
Controlling emotions is also a way; but the ability to control is related to the ability of people to adapt to the degree of stimulus. For example, people who are calm and calm have a higher threshold for emotional out-of-control than those who are irritable.
In addition, there are two different forms of emotions and emotional out-of-control. Emotions may not be expressed, but they will affect rational thinking. (Emotions, essentially a kind of anxiety, can only disappear through resolution, self-control is just a means of delay)
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