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Sway - The Irresistible Pull of Behavior

Preface
I feel like the writers who made this book really stretched out their examples to the point where it’s not the most relevant/concrete for the given psychological example. Or, the writers could have written this while they were high or something. Either way, there is a clear interruption of flowage in conscious thought, and you have to constantly switch gears in order to keep along with what the writers are trying to convey. The book does have a good amount of psychological and sociological examples that I haven’t read anywhere else though.

Overreacting to Potential Loss
Gives an example of how a reputable plane pilot crashed.
The more meaningful a potential loss is, the more loss averse we become. In other words, the more there is on the line, the easier it is to get swept into an irrational decision.
People overreact to potential loss

Commitment - IN too deep
Bidding example of how there is a free $20 bill and the last two bidders would have to pay the price of the bill.
The deeper the hole they dig themselves into, the more they continue to dig.
AVersion to loss, on its own, is strong. But when it converges with commitment, the force becomes an even more powerful influence in shaping our thinking and decision making.

Value Attribution
Example of how scientists didn’t believe a new discovery of neanderthals and subway riders didn’t react to yo yo ma playing in the subway
Value attribution, acts as a quick mental shortcut to determine what’s worthy of our attention. When we encounter a new object, person, or situation, the value we assign to it shapes our future perception of it, whether it's our dismissal of a curiously inexpensive antique we find at a flea market or our admiration of a high-priced designer bag in a chic boutique.
Value attribution kicked in when attendees received a discount ticket : regardless of the size of the discount, the patrons regarded the tickets and the productions as inferior.
The First Date Interview
A single word has the power to alter our whole perception of another person - and possibly sour the relationship before it even begins. When we hear a description of someone, no matter how brief, it inevitably shapes our experience of that person.
10 common interview(first date questions) and one only is useful.
Why should I hire you?
What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
How would you describe yourself?
What college subject did you like the best and the least?
What do you know about our company?
Why did you decide to seek a job with our company?
What did you leave your last job?
What do you want to earn five years from one?
What do you really want to do in life?

Semi insightful, self-evaluation questions where you get a real sense of the candidate
AT its core, these questions elicit prepackaged responses that don’t really tell us anything about the candidate’s actual skills
These require candidates to gaze into the future, and these questions carry little weight.
This turns the interviewer into a historian. When people revisit the past they often reconstruct it, and invite artful responses.

The idea is to focus on relevant data and squelch any questions that invite the candidate to predict the future, reconstruct the past, or ponder life’s big questions.
The ideal system is to use higher accuracy techniques up front to make your decision - things that test mental ability tests, work samples.

The Chameleon Effect
The molding process becomes self-perpetuating. When we take on characteristics assigned to us, the diagnosis is reinforced and reaffirmed.
Pygmalion effect (describing how we take on positive traits assigned to us by someone else)
Golem effect ( describing how we take on negative traits)
The Chameleon Effect - Catch all term that shows both

Interesting study on a group of 50 women who talked to a group of 50 men on the phone. The men were given bios on the women, and then pictures of either pretty or ugly women. Then, the recordings of the men were taking out and a 3rd group had to choose what the women were supposed to look like, and they chose the fake photos that were assigned to them.
Without knowing it, the jury members cut in on the mysterious dance that had taken place between the men and the women.
The women had unconsciously picked up on the beautiful opinion the men had of them and acted accordingly.
Who hadn’t walked a little taller or smiled a little brighter after being told how beautiful they are.
Negative and External feelings about old age can actually make people physically age faster.

Psychology and physiology are inextricably connected in many ways
IN the bridge study, men who crossed the rope bridge, anxiety and adrenaline translated into a heightened romantic interest in the assistant. Their physiological reactions affected their perceptions.
We’re constantly sending and receiving causes and subtle messages to and from one another - swaying and being swayed, even if our rational brain hasn’t been let in on the characteristics others ascribe to us.

Perceptions of Fairness

When it comes to fairness, it’s the process, not the outcome, that causes us to react irrationally. This is called procedural justice. We don’t expect a computer to be fair, but we expect people to be. They usually would want a 50/50 split.

It was recommended that all managers - regardless of industry - put greater “effort, energy, investment, and patience� into nurturing the relationship. As the car dealer study suggests, how we are treated - the fairness of the procedure - has as much to do with our satisfaction as the ultimate outcome.
VC’s believe also in outcome and process. Even though VC’s is all about the money, they still want to be overcommunicated with.

Study on a 50/50 split in Machiguenga.
Rather than viewing themselves as being treated unfairly by the offering partner, “they seemed to feel it was just back luck that they were responders and not proposers.
In the end, Machiguenga are no more rational than UCLA students.
They simply have a different perception of fairness
We don’t typically think of fairness as an irrational force, but it dramatically affects our perceptions and sways our thinking.

Incentive Compensation vs. Altruistic Motivation
Managers, parents and economists have long operated under the assumption that monetary incentives increase motivation. But psychologists are beginning to discover that the connection between the 2 is trickier than it first appears.
There is a paradoxical aspect of financial compensation, one that illuminates the strange relationship between monetary incentives and two very different parts of our brain.
Everytime there is money to be gained or lost, - a certain part of the brain lit up. This region, is called the nucleus accumbens
The nucleus accumbens is one of the most primitive parts of the brain, one that is associated with our wild side. It’s the area that associates with the thrill of going out on a hot date, sports fan’s when their team pulls out a last minute victory, and that seeks out the excitement of LV.
The Posterior superior temporal sulcus is the part of the brain responsible for social interactions - how we perceive others, how we relate, and how we form bonds.
The pleasure center and the altruism center cannot both function at the same time.
For the altruism center, all you need is a sense that you’re helping someone or making a positive impact
For the pleasure center, you need a lot more impactful incentives, otherwise it could be a turnoff

Study on High school teachers who were offered an incentive compensation for greater attendance, which resulted in higher attendance but a drop in GPA’s
The teachers didn’t give up on their values or lower their standards, they had the pleasure center sneak up, and veer off the path they had originally planned.
NOt only does our response to a monetary reward resemble our response to a drug like coke, but so does our drive to attain the reward
The prospect of a reward exited the pleasure center even more than the attainment of the reward itself.


Group Vs. Individual Mentality

Although the sway of group conformity is incredibly strong, it depends on unanimity for its power. The interesting thing is that the dissenting actor didn't need to give the right answer to inspire the real participant to speak up with the correct response; all it took to break the sway was for someone to give an answer that was different from the majority.
It’s important to note that the presence of a disenter - any dissenter, no matter how incompetent - still made it possible for a large segment of participants to deviate from the majority and give the right answer.
A dissenting voice - even an incompetent one - can often act as the dam that holds back a flood of irrational behavior.