Bandwagon Effect: Because Everyone Can’t Be Wrong …. Right?
If everyone else seems to be doing something, people tend to join in without asking whether it’s actually the right thing.
Conformity
Name Calling: How to Persuade By Attaching a Label
I don’t like who you are, therefore you’re wrong. When it’s easier to question someone’s character than their reasoning.
Confirmation Bias: The Echo Chamber in Your Head
To combat confirmation bias, we must adopt the tools of science. The most effective defence is the falsification strategy—actively trying to prove ourselves wrong rather than right
Foot in the Door Technique: Free Samples and David Icke
The Foot-in-the-Door technique asks you to agree to something small, knowing it will be far easier to move you on to something big.
The Pseudo-Event: The Staged Story Designed to Influence You
How many stories and events in the media are deliberately staged to make the viewer want to do the same?
How Social Identity Influences Our Beliefs
Once we have decided what sort of person we want to be, and what group of people we belong to, it’s easy for external influence to supply our choices, opinions and beliefs.
Authority Bias: When Deferring to Someone in Charge Goes Wrong
We often look to people with seniority or official status for guidance, but what happens when they are wrong?
Conformity and Social Norms
In every crowd, there’s a right way to behave. We learn it instantly — in lifts, pubs, libraries, and work.
Social Proof Definition and Examples
Why do we look to what other people have done to guide our own choices and decisions?
