What Are Some of the Interesting Psychological Facts That You Might Not Know?
Need a leg up in life? Don’t fight against your inherent nature. Instead, embrace it and arm yourself with how you and the world around you work.
Check out these 8 interesting psychological facts to gain a better understanding of why you do the things you do, and how to do some things even better.
1. You Cannot Multitask
The term “multitasking” is used to describe when a person does more than one task or activity at a time. It used to apply solely to computers, but in recent times humans have jumped onto this bandwagon too. The problem is that you may think you are multitasking, but you aren’t.
Or rather, you are doing it so inefficiently that you might as well focus on one thing at a time. Why? When you’re distracted by an email, it can take as long as 15 minutes to reorient yourself to what you were doing before.
Think about every time you switch your attention to another task without completing the first one. That reorientation time adds up, greatly reducing your efficiency at work and at home.
2. Don’t Announce Plans If You Want to Succeed
Do you declare your goals across your social media accounts? Maybe you announce them to the world as if daring the universe to impede you? When you do this, the world doesn’t conspire against you. You do.
Why do you shoot yourself in the foot? According to experts, you may give yourself a “premature sense of completeness.” This is a motivation-killer because you may feel accomplished for simply announcing the resolution.
So, the next time you have a grand plan to increase productivity in your department, perhaps you should keep it to yourself.
3. Music Paints Your World Perception
If you are what you eat, then music is the filter through which you see the outside world. Does this mean that negative music makes you perceive the world negatively? Not necessarily.
Researchers found that there is a correlation between mood and perception. Using music as a mood manipulator, they observed that an individual’s memory of and reaction to the world around them depends on how they’re feeling.
If you want to see the world clearly, listen to what makes you happy, whether that’s speed metal or jazz standards.
4. A Tired Mind Is a Creative One
Do you have a project that depends on your creativity? Try working on it when you first wake up or before bed.
One study suggests that out-of-the-box type thinking and creative tasks are best tackled if your body is slightly fatigued. For some of you, that may mean the evening, but everyone’s body is different.
Furthermore, try to experiment with time. You may find that early morning works better for you.
5. Sarcasm? Like You Need Another Reason to Use It.
Are you a sarcasm connoisseur? If you enjoy a sarcastic comment or three, you may be smarter and more creative than those that don’t appreciate it.
It’s true and a study proves it. Sarcasm may increase creativity for both the expresser and recipient of this form of expression. Because of the mental gymnastics that sarcasm requires to both create and decode a message, it’s also indicative of higher thinking.
And despite what Oscar Wilde says about sarcasm being “the lowest form of wit,” rest assured that it may inspire the highest form of creativity. But you probably knew that already.
6. The Pygmalion Effect or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
You’ve heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? Maybe you’re more familiar of the Pygmalion Effect in the workplace. If you are oblivious about both, they are essentially the same thing and this is the breakdown:
Your actions toward others affect others’ beliefs about you. This, in turn, affects the way others act towards you. Their actions reinforce your own belief about yourself which then affects how you act towards others.
If it sounds like a messy circle, it’s because it is a psychologically messy circle of influence and behavioral confirmation. Want to change the circle of influence? Change your actions. They say everything about you. And in turn, you may positively change the way you see yourself, too.
7. Delayed Gratification = Success in Life
The infamous marshmallow test has gauged children’s capacity for self-control for decades now. Does the child go for instant gratification in the form of one marshmallow? Or, do they wait and cash in on the promise of a second one?
And what does a children’s experiment have to do with you? A lot, as it turns out. It’s a lesson in self-control versus instant gratification. And this is bad news for a society that is focused on instant gratification.
However, experts suggest that delaying gratification may suggest future aptitude in being able to exhibit more willpower and self-control to attain long-range goals. Your future doesn’t fall solely on whether or not you indulge in this tasty treat, though. Newer research reflects that your decisions, marshmallow or otherwise, are also influenced by your environment.
So what is the takeaway from all this? Simply that your own willpower to succeed and overcome any obstacle is the ultimate indicator of your success, or lack thereof, in life. But just to be safe, don’t eat the marshmallow.
8. Money Buys Happiness, But Only Up to Around $75K
It’s true, money can buy happiness. But there’s a limit to it. Once you hit the $75,000 a year mark, that money isn’t going to make you happy anymore.
In addition, with the national median income coming in at $51,939, that threshold is fast approaching or already passed, depending on your industry.
So what’s next if you make more than $75K a year? Should you give up on your pursuit of happiness? Nope. Your next measurement will be against your neighbors.
Once you attain an ideal income level for satisfactory life evaluation and emotional well-being, you may seek to collect stuff and compare yourself to others. Ironically, this may lower your overall well-being and satisfaction in life. So it’s true that money changes everything, but after a certain point, it isn’t necessarily for the better.
Final Thoughts
You may have heard some of these psychological facts before, but some are probably new to you. Understanding how the human mind works can impact how you do things in your personal and professional life. And perhaps you may be able to streamline some practices to coincide with how your brain works, instead of trying to go against Mother Nature.
