"Things That Influence Your Everyday Behavior"
Your Facebook News Feed
In an experiment that was conducted on 700,000 Facebook users
News Feeds were manipulated to contain positive or negative news and content
And users were monitored to see if the change has influenced them
To use more positive or negative words in their status updates
Interestingly, people’s status updates showed a change in mood and emotions
That corresponded to the kind of news they were exposed to
Where You Are
According to the "Broken Windows” theory
The more run-down an area is, the more it will be perceived as being lawless
And, in turn, the more likely people are to assume that breaking the law is at least somewhat acceptable
Many experiments confirmed and supported this theory
Including that people were twice as likely to take money out of a mailbox
If there were signs of neglect in the surrounding property
And also, untouched cars were left alone, while cars that have already been vandalized
Were vandalized even more in less than a day
The Size of Your Plate
In many studies, when people were asked to portion out a serving size for themselves
Those who were given bigger plates piled on 13% more food
Than those who were given smaller plates
The same thing happens when we’re pouring a drink
And it all comes down to optical illusions, and our relative perception of size
For example, you think that the circle on the right is bigger than the one on the left
While in reality they're both the exact same size
This happens because our brains determine the size of an object by how big or small it is relative to what surrounds it
Advertisement
Many companies spend huge amounts of money on advertisement, and most of the time, it works
Even when we don’t think it does
Studies by the Harvard Business Review found that
While you might think you’re skipping the ads, you’re still being influenced by them
Because in order to fast-forward it, you need to be looking at the screen to know when to stop again
And that means you’re paying attention to the advertisement
More than you would be if you simply left the room or did something else during the break
*Things That Influence Your Everyday Behavior*