Brainy Dose Presents:
18 Surprising Psychological Facts About You
The psychology of the human mind is a very fascinating subject.
It’s been studied extensively, but for the most part, it still largely remains a mystery.
In fact, it’s one the least understood things in the world.
Nonetheless, a lot has been learned about how the mind works!
Without further delay, let’s explore some interesting human psychology facts that may
surprise you!
Number 1 - The Ability To Delay Gratification Or Not Starts Young
Not everybody can delay gratification. For many people, once they start to feel like
they want something, no matter how many reasons they come up with to delay getting it, they
eventually give in.
For example, let’s say you want a new tablet.
But then, you start thinking it would probably be better to take care of your bills
before buying it.
Or you could even wait until after the holiday season; when the prices usually go down.
When you find yourself in this situation, what do you do? Do you usually wait?
Whether the answer is YES or NO, there‘s a high probability that you’ve been this
way since you were a child!
Number 2 - You Want More Choices Than You Can Process
Let’s say you want to try a different kind of cereal for a change – as you stand in
the aisle in the grocery store, you will likely find yourself overwhelmed by the number of
available choices.
And I’m pretty sure you’ll agree that’s how it is with most things when you go shopping.
Be it food, apparel, electronics or anything else - there are always many choices.
That’s because people actually prefer to have a lot of options to select from.
Ask anyone if they would rather have limited options or more choices - their answer will
likely be the latter.
Number 3 - You’re Addicted To Faces
As humans, we are social beings and we often communicate our feelings through facial expressions.
In fact, we are hardwired to scan the world for facial cues around us.
Due to evolution, you deem such input as so important, that your brain immediately and
subconsciously reacts to anything that even remotely resembles a face!
This is why we often find pictures that contain human faces more appealing than others.
Yes, you’re addicted to faces. It’s an integral part of you.
Number 4 - You’re More Likely To Blame People Than The Situation
When something undesirable happens, people tend to put the blame on someone - instead
of the circumstance they find themselves in.
For instance, if you’re late for a meeting or an appointment, you’re more likely to
blame the taxi driver, than the construction that resulted in traffic on the way.
Since the human mind works this way, it’s important that you remember this - and take
it into consideration when you encounter situations like this.
Number 5 - You Can’t Actually Multitask
Contrary to popular beliefs, you can’t actually do more than one task at a time.
While it may be possible for you to easily switch between tasks, you can’t really multitask.
In fact, except for some things that require minimal physical effort - like walking while
talking, the mind has been hardwired in such a way that it only fully concentrates on one
task at a time.
Number 6 - Synchronous Activity Bonds Your Group
A group that does things together will always have a closer bond.
As a matter of fact, research shows that people who have fun together, laugh together and
participate in several activities together, are always ready to take steps and make sacrifices
for one another - even if some of the members don’t like each other.
Number 7 - Your Mind Wanders More Than You Think
We're all aware that our minds wander at times, but do you know just how much?
For most of us, our minds wander about 30% of the time, and this figure can rise to as
high as 70% - depending on the situation we find ourselves in.
Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing… Yes, a wandering mind will sometimes miss
crucial information, but it can also encourage creativity.
In addition, a wandering mind can actually help you keep other important information
in mind while doing something else.
Number 8 - Your Eyes Don’t Like Red And Blue
The combination of red and blue together can form an optical illusion which makes something
appear closer or farther than it really is.
In fact, the early 3D effects were created by exploiting this illusion.
However, this colour combination is very hard on the eyes - it fatigues them.
Just take a long, hard look at the American flag, for example.
Number 9 - You Crave The Familiar When You’re Emotionally Unstable
Did you know that if you’re feeling down or scared, you prefer to surround yourself
with things you’re familiar with?
After a heated argument with your partner or a terrible day at work, if you go to the
grocery store, you're more likely to buy brands you are familiar with, rather than trying
something new.
This happens because when you’re sad or scared, you feel very vulnerable - so your
mind looks for familiar things to latch onto.
Number 10 - You Have A Maximum Social Group Size
There’s only a certain number of relationships that your brain can handle.
The truth is, that no one can really maintain close relationships with those hundreds or
thousands of Facebook friends in reality.
According to psychologists, we can only handle between 50 and 150 close bonds.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make a lot of acquaintances - but that’s
all they will ever be.
Number 11 - You Read Faster With Longer Lines, But Prefer Shorter Ones
Believe it or not, you can actually read text with longer lines faster than ones with narrower
columns. Quite surprising isn’t it?
Many people believe they read narrower columns faster - but that’s only because the eyes
prefer narrower columns visually.
Number 12 - You Reconstruct Your Memories
Since our recollections always play like little movies in our minds - we think that our memories
are saved and stacked away like files on a computer.
In reality however, every time you try to recollect any information from your past,
your mind reconstructs the memory.
This means that no two recollections of the same memory are ever the same.
Yes, you actually reconstruct a memory every time. So, it’s possible for you to add things
which were not there, or miss things that actually were.
Number 13 - You Think Others Are More Easily Influenced
There is a psychological phenomenon that is called the “third-person effect”.
This phenomenon is a personal bias that mass media messages and advertising have greater
effects on others than ourselves.
This bias is even greater when you don’t particularly care for the source of influence.
But the truth is, that many advertisements subconsciously affect your mood, attitude
and what you want.
Number 14 - You Overestimate Your Reaction To Future Events
You must have (at one time or another) wanted something so bad, that you believed when you
have it, you’ll be much happier.
But, that’s not always how things turn out to be.
That’s because mostly, our level of happiness stays about the same, and it always reverts
to a steady norm.
The actual truth about how you feel about future events, is that you often overestimate
your reactions to them – both the positive and the negative ones.
Number 15 - You Like Bite Size Pieces Of Info
The human mind prefers to have information in small bits and pieces. It’s much easier
to understand and retain things this way.
People generally have a defined attention-span, and there is a limit to their information
retention capacity.
However, because of this, communicating informative content can be rather tricky, because oversimplification
can lead to loss of crucial aspects of the information conveyed.
Number 16 - Your Words Can Manipulate Perception
Did you know it is the words that are used to describe a situation that determine your
perception of it?
For example, if someone describes a car accident to you as “contact” - you won’t have
a terrible mental image of the crash, even if the accident was a bad one.
On the flip side, if an accident is described as a “smash” - your mind will paint a
terrible picture of the crash, even if it wasn’t so bad.
Number 17 - You Know How To Do Things You’ve Never Done Before
This is possible because your brain forms an idea or picture of how something works
- it's called a mental model.
So, if someone told you they did something you have never tried before, your mind creates
pictures of how they could have gone about it.
This is the concept that is put to practice when you find yourself with tools and gadgets
you’ve never used before. Your mind automatically forms some assumptions
on how to use it!
Number 18 - You Can Literally Die From Having Your Heart Broken
Stress Cardiomyopathy often referred to as “Broken-heart Syndrome” is a condition
in which the heart muscles suffer severe weakness due to extreme emotional or physical stress.
A young person may actually be able to handle it, but it can be life-threatening for the
elderly.
This is the reason behind cases where one partner of an elderly couple passes away, and then
the other follows shortly after.
The human mind really is fascinating! What do you think?
Which psychological fact did you find most interesting? Do you know any other facts about
human psychology that you would add to this list?
Let us know in the comments below!
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