Category: Psychology

Imagine a fairy godmother comes along and offers you a delicious cookie that is magically free of calories. It smells so good! Your mouth is watering. Just as you are about to take it, she says, “Wait! I have another offer. You can either take this cookie now or wait until tomorrow. If you wait 24 hours, I will give you a cookie every single day for the rest of your life.”

It would be very tempting to take the cookie that’s right in front of your eyes (assuming you like cookies). But it would be a much better deal to wait a day and get cookies for the rest of your life. This is the principle of delayed gratification. 

There’s a famous experiment in psychology known as the “marshmallow test,” that was conducted at Stanford University back in the 1970s. The researchers, like fairy godmothers, made offers to preschool children that tested their ability to delay gratification. In one variation, the children were able to eat a marshmallow as an immediate reward, or if they chose to wait, they would get two marshmallows instead of just one.

Researchers conducted follow-up studies on the children for decades. They found key differences in the two groups, between those who waited for the better reward and those who didn’t.

When the children were teenagers, researchers found the “waiting” group had higher SAT scores and were described, by their parents, as more competent. Later, they had fewer mental health, drug use, and weight problems. They were more likely to graduate from college and earn more money. 

It seemed like their being able to resist temptation when they were kids was a strong predictor of their success in later life. But was it really?

A new follow-up study casts doubt on that idea. Scientists found that the kids’ choices in the original experiment did not predict their success when they were in their 40s. There was no difference between the two groups in income, net worth, education, or weight.

This is good news if you were a child who did not have the self-control to wait patiently for rewards. Your impulsive behavior as a preschooler doesn’t doom you to a life of poverty.

Being able to exercise self-control is still an important skill and one that is learnable. Parents can model this trait for their children by keeping their promises and having negative consequences for bad behavior and positive consequences for good.

People of any age can teach themselves to be better at delaying gratification by becoming mindful of their impulsive feelings, setting goals, journaling, and looking for opportunities to practice self-control in their daily lives.

Neuroscience also has some lessons. Two areas of the brain appear to play a major role in delaying gratification – the prefrontal cortex, associated with self-control, and the hippocampus, associated with memory, in this case, the “memory” of the future. Both areas become activated when people merely imagine a bigger and more distant reward. So, when you are faced with a choice between a tempting immediate pleasure and a later reward that is even better, deliberately focus your imagination on the later reward to fire up the supporting parts of your brain.
 

There’s no such thing as a perfect parent, and those that already have children will be the first ones to admit that. Everyday you learn something new about yourself, your child and how to improve on how you’re raising them. If you’re planning on starting a family, there are some key factors that you need to consider. Tap into your brain and learn these psychological principles to set yourself and your child up for long term success.

5. Environment

Many people that end up having a child may not be ready, and there’s a long list of factors that come into play. One of those factors is environment, which includes the physical aspect. You want to make sure that your child has everything tangible that they need to be successful in life. It doesn’t have to be the highest end children’s toys and whatnot, but they should have at least the minimum to develop intellectually and creatively during their younger years. 

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Praise

There are some parents out there that no matter what their child does, they tend to not praise the kids. This can set a child up for a lifetime of feeling like their accomplishments aren’t worthwhile. When your child does something noteworthy, make sure to tell them that you’re proud of what they’ve done. That type of validation helps their development tremendously. It’s not a short term thing, either, as their professional and personal accomplishments as adults will boost their self esteem.

3. Conversation

Did you ever feel awkward telling your parents something while you were growing up? It’s likely because they weren’t proactive in conversation. When you start a discussion with your children and get the dialogue rolling, you’re going to learn a lot about them in every way. From what makes them tick, to their likes and dislikes and how you can be there for them in times of need. Talk, listen, and enjoy a deeper connection with your child.

2. Respect

They say that respect is earned, not given. That is all well and good when it comes to the office or professional sports. When it comes to raising a child, though, you have to show them respect from a very early age. You should respect your child in all aspects. Physically, emotionally, mentally, etc. When you show your child respect, that means that they’ll show respect to others and make healthy lifelong connections. When they become adults, they’ll have earned respect from their peers because they know how.

1. Assertiveness

The absolute biggest problem that all parents face is trying to find that balance between being too aggressive when raising a child and too passive. Aggressiveness makes your child not want to open up to you and can cause a multitude of mental issues down the road, while being too passive makes your child think they can just take whatever they want. That’s also going to be a hard lesson for them to learn down the road. It’s important to be assertive, engage in conversation with your child and make sure that they understand consequences on a deeper level, and don’t allow them to walk all over you.

To be a successful manager, one must understand some of the basics of psychology. After all, managing other people is a lot like trying to change their behavior—which psychologists know much about. Here are five crucial lessons from psychology that every manager should learn.

1:  The power of persuasion

Management is about convincing others to do what you want them to do. And there is a science to persuasion. Psychologists have found that the most effective way to persuade someone is to appeal to self-interest. So, if you want someone to do something, it’s essential to clarify how it will benefit them.

2: The importance of incentives

Incentives are a powerful tool for managers. If you want someone to do something, offer them a reward for doing it. This is called positive reinforcement, an incredibly effective way to change behavior. Of course, you have to be careful with incentives. If they’re too small, they won’t be effective. And if they’re too large, they can create problems.

3: The power of social pressure

People are significantly influenced by what other people do. This is called social pressure. And it’s something managers can use to their advantage. If you want someone to do something, make it clear that everyone else is doing it. This will create a sense of pressure and make it more likely that the person will comply with your request.

4: The importance of commitment

Once someone has committed to doing something, they’re much more likely to do it. This is because of something psychologists call the “commitment effect.” So, if you want someone to do something, get them to commit to it. For example, you could ask them to sign a contract or make a public commitment.

5: The power of peer pressure

Peer pressure is similar to social anxiety but is even more powerful. That’s because people are more influenced by those they perceive to be like them. So, if you want someone to do something, find someone like them and get that person to do it first. This will create a sense of peer pressure and make it more likely that the person will comply with your request.

Wrapping Up

These are just a few of the many lessons from psychology that every manager should know. By understanding and applying these concepts, you can be a more effective leader and help your team achieve its goals.

If you’re reading this right now, there’s a good chance that you have some sort of collection. Whether it be coins, baseball cards, stamps or anything in between, it’s estimated that 40 percent of Americans have a collection of a particular item. Why do we do this, though? Since no two people are the same, there are varying reasons why people become collectors so frequently, and here are a few of those reasons.

Investments

In the United States, we seem to always be ready to make a quick buck, but there are plenty of people that want to play the long game. Because of this, collecting has been seen as a form of investment, especially when it comes to trading cards and coins. For every T206 Honus Wagner trading card, there are thousands of Beanie Babies collecting dust. 

32 percent of collectors said that they have gone into collecting in hopes of making money, with 83 percent of those people thinking that they will strike it rich as a result. Among those that are the most hopeful are the coin collectors. Surprisingly, it’s the younger people from Generation Z that are the most avid collectors these days, hoping that rare coins and even Pokemon cards will appreciate in value when they get older.

Nostalgia

Outside of investors, there are people that love to collect without any intention of selling what they’ve amassed. That’s because of the nostalgia factor, where seeing a collection can take someone back to their “happy place” and remind them of better times. These items tend to be more personal, such as autographs addressed directly to the collector.

While it may represent what’s perceived to be a good time in someone’s life, collecting for nostalgic reasons can also be a warning sign. Studies have shown that people experience nostalgia more in times of depression than happiness, using it as an escape. Collecting out of nostalgia can be a hint that someone is attempting to have a tangible escape from their current state of mental health.

Other Factors

Not everyone with a collection is trying to make money or get a break from reality. There are other factors that come into play. This includes spirituality, with people collecting items that are tied to their religion or other beliefs. Others can simply be very passionate about a particular subject (think of an array of sports memorabilia in a ‘man cave’). There are some cases when collecting can get to be too much, however.

The Line Between Collecting and Hoarding

In recent years, people have become more aware of hoarding due to mainstream exposure, particularly in reality television. Hoarding is classified as a mental disorder in which people compulsively hold onto items for various reasons, but has been linked to substance abuse, depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.

The reason that collecting and hoarding are different is due to the fact that hoarding doesn’t narrow in on one particular item. There is hardly ever monetary value, separating it from the investment side of things. There’s also little organization, leading to a home filled with clutter. Hoarding is also more rare than collecting, affecting only about 3.5 percent of people compared to the 40 percent of the public that collects.