Do we really see everything as it is, or are we seeing things from the eyes of others? manipulation plays a huge role in how our brain shapes reality, even in the face of facts.
Research shows how our motivations and opinions change faster than we realize. Read on to know how our brains can be manipulated.
Whenย motivationย changes, we can easily switch opinions. Have you ever fallen for someone but then been rejected? Did you then come up with reasons why it wasnโt going to work out in the first place? If you didnโt get snubbed, you probably wouldnโt have changed your mind. The same thing happens when someone is under the spell of blind love.
They may ignoreย red flags, common sense, and reject advice from friends or professionals, as they create explanations that support their desires, like, โIf I am good enough I can change him/her. Love will conquer all.โ
Opinions change with circumstance and sometimes are created on the spot. ย
One study showed that most people can completely switch their views without batting an eye. Researchers had 160 volunteers fill out two-page questionnaires asking them to what degree they agreed with morally laden issues (such as individual rights or political conflict). The participants filled out the form, then discussed and defended their answers.
However, the researchers pulled a fast one: Each questionnaire was on a clipboard, and when the subject flipped over the page to fill out the second half, parts of the sheet stuck to the clipboard. When volunteers turned that page back over to discuss their first responses, the answer sheet had changed, containing different versions of two questions.
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But hereโs the thing: The volunteersโ answers remained the same. So, a person who originally had strongly agreed about theย benefitsย of government surveillance now held a sheet that said they strongly agreed about theย problemsย of government surveillance.
The participants were interviewed about these views, including the ones that had changed. About two-thirds of them defended the views they hadnโt put down in the first place. They gave logical and coherent reasons but didnโt seem to realize they were supporting positions they hadnโt originally given.
Thatโs how our brains are manipulated!
The study shows that people can change their minds and retroactively create reasons andย rationalizationsย for whatever they are feeling at the time.
The authors suggest that the project shows โa dramatic potential for flexibility in ourโฆattitudesโ that back up behavior. This indicates that many subjective decisions are made fromย emotion rather than logic.
However, this study also shows we can be pretty darn flexible in our opinions if we are willing to have an open mind.
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Youโd think you wouldnโt do what these volunteers did, but you might. A recurring theme in the deception literature is how most everyone agrees that deception occurs, but they usually donโt catch themselves doing it. We are blind to our blindness.
As author Dan Goleman wrote, โForย self-deception, by its very nature, is the most elusive of mental facts. We do not see what we do not see.โ The next time you feel like arguing a position, consider whether you are being open-minded, or whether you are getting caught up in an emotion-fueled opinion that could change with the next situation.
References
- Lars Hall, Petter Johansson, and Thomas Strandberg, โLifting the Veil of Morality: Choice Blindness and Attitude Reversals on a Self-Transforming Survey,โ PLOS One (2012): e45457, DOI: 10.1371.
- Daniel Goleman, Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self Deception (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996), p. 13.
Written by:Jason Whiting PhD. For consulting and workshops or treatment and supervision click here Originally appeared on Psychology Today Republished with permission
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