Ben Franklin effect

The Ben Franklin effect is a psychological finding: A person who has done someone a favor is more likely to do that person another favor than they would be if they had received a favor from that person. Similarly, one who harms another is more willing to harm them again than the victim is to retaliate.[1] Recognition of effect by Franklin[edit] In the words of Benjamin Franklin, who famously observed the effect and for whom it is named, "He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged."[2] In his autobiography, Franklin explains how he dealt with the animosity of a rival legislator when he served in the Pennsylvania legislature in the 18th century: Having heard that he had in his library a certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to him, expressing my desire of perusing that book, and requesting he would do me the favour of lending it to me for a few days. Effect as an example of cognitive dissonance[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect

Related: Manipulation and Persuasion

How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently By Maria Popova “In disputes upon moral or scientific points,” Arthur Martine counseled in his magnificent 1866 guide to the art of conversation, “let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.” Of course, this isn’t what happens most of the time when we argue, both online and off, but especially when we deploy the artillery of our righteousness from behind the comfortable shield of the keyboard. That form of “criticism” — which is really a menace of reacting rather than responding — is worthy of Mark Twain’s memorable remark that “the critic’s symbol should be the tumble-bug: he deposits his egg in somebody else’s dung, otherwise he could not hatch it.” But it needn’t be this way — there are ways to be critical while remaining charitable, of aiming not to “conquer” but to “come at truth,” not to be right at all costs but to understand and advance the collective understanding.

Foot-in-the-door technique The principle involved is that a small agreement creates a bond between the requester and the requestee. Even though the requestee may only have agreed to a trivial request out of politeness, this forms a bond which - when the requestee attempts to justify the decision to themselves - may be mistaken for a genuine affinity with the requester, or an interest in the subject of the request. When a future request is made, the requestee will feel obliged to act consistently with the earlier one.[5] The reversed approach - making a deliberately outlandish opening demand so that a subsequent, milder request will be accepted - is known as the door-in-the-face technique. Classic experiments[edit]

Intellectually-honest and intellectually-dishonest debate tactics – John T. Reed Copyright by John T. Reed This Web site is, in part, a debate between me and others with whom I take various issues. I welcome intellectually-honest debate. MBTI Basics - The 16 MBTI Types Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability. Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized - their work, their home, their life.

The uses and abuses of 'happiness' The happiness 'movement' has the potential to transform society, but do its proponents know what they're doing? William Davies sets out four strands of the debate - philosophical, statistical, economical and psychological - and shows how confusion between them is hindering progress The launch of Action for Happiness last week generated yet more debate about the meaning and value of happiness. On top of the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) ‘national debate’ on how to define and measure ‘national wellbeing’, one can scarcely open a newspaper nowadays without discovering more political, scientific or pseudo-scientific pronouncements about what does or doesn’t make us happy.

List of thought processes Nature of thought[edit] Thought (or thinking) can be described as all of the following: An activity taking place in a: brain – organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals (only a few invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, adult sea squirts and starfish do not have a brain). It is the physical structure associated with the mind. mind – abstract entity with the cognitive faculties of consciousness, perception, thinking, judgement, and memory.

Is All the Truth We Need in the Data? by Jag Bhalla Is all the truth we need found in the numbers? Can the stats always chart a better course? Although it seems savvy to defer to “the data,” the devil is in the details. 1. Pattern recognition (psychology) The incoming sensory information is compared directly to copies (templates) stored in the long term memory. These copies are stored in the process of our past experiences and learning. E.g. A A A are all recognized as the letter A but not B. EAT BUGS: Monetary incentives distort our perceptions of what's good for us / Boing Boing There are lots of transactions that we're either prohibited from making (selling kidneys), or that are strictly regulated by statute (parental surrogacy). Naturally, these rules are hotly debated, especially among economists, who generally assume that markets of informed buyers and sellers produce outcomes that make everyone better off. In a Job Market paper, Stanford's Sandro Ambuehl describes a series of experiments that investigated the way in which incentives affect our ability to predict whether something is the best course of action for us. Specifically, Ambuehl set out to convince people to eat raw, whole insects, and compared how they rationalized their actions in the presence and absence of cash rewards. It may not surprise you to discover that people who've been promised a lot of money to do something are likely to ignore or discount evidence that they won't like that course of action. An Offer You Can’t Refuse?

Mindfulness (psychology) Mindfulness as a psychological concept is the focusing of attention and awareness, based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation.[1] It has been popularised in the West by Jon Kabat-Zinn.[2] Despite its roots in Buddhism, mindfulness is often taught independently of religion.[3][4] Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people suffering from a variety of psychological conditions.[5] Several definitions of mindfulness have been used in modern psychology. According to various prominent psychological definitions, Mindfulness refers to a psychological quality that involves bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis,[6]

Pandering to the lizard brain: American media versus objective reality / Boing Boing Matt Taibbi, in typical blazing form in the Rolling Stone, asks how it can be that millions of Americans believe Donald Trump's fairy-tale about Muslims cheering after 9/11 when it just didn't happen. There are many related questions, like how can so many people believe the (ahem) trumped-up stories about Planned Parenthood selling baby-parts, or the nonsense about how "92 percent of the jobs lost under Obama belonged to women." Taibbi says that investor-driven media, which no longer even plays lip-service to the idea of informing the public, is partly to blame -- but so is the public for demanding it. Though I will read Taibbi all day long, I don't entirely agree with his point here.

Positive Psychology Exercises for Life Happiness: Psychology Studies to Improve Relationships and Bring Happiness Five easy positive psychology exercises can help you improve your relationship and be happier. Each of these exercises, resulting from psychology studies, offer the benefits of greater happiness, contentment, and life satisfaction. AutonomyExpress your individuality The more autonomy and freedom of choice in your life, the happier you are. Look for opportunities in your daily life, at work and home, to express your free choice and independence.