audience effect in psychology

 

The audience effect is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when an individual's performance is influenced by the presence or perception of an audience. This effect is often seen in situations where individuals are performing in front of others, such as in public speaking, sports, or artistic performances.

The audience effect is a passive type of social facilitation. The positive effect appears to be seen when the person or people performing a task is already skilled at performing the task. Those who are not skilled can experience impaired performance. 

The audience effect has been attributed to several factors, including social facilitation (where the presence of others enhances performance) and evaluation apprehension (where individuals are concerned about being evaluated by others).

 Overall, the audience effect highlights the importance of understanding how social context can influence an individual's behavior.

 Reference:

 Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149(3681), 269-274. doi: 10.1126/science.149.3681.269     A link to a pdf that worked in 2023.

Zajonc, R. B., & Sales, S. M. (1966). Social facilitation of dominant and subordinate responses. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2 (2), 160-168. Link to a pdf in 2023 at umich.edu.

 Related

The social facilitation effect

 

 

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

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bullshit receptivity

 Bullshit receptivity is the tendency of people to find meaning in pseudo-profound statements as you may see on posters or social media.

Gordon Pennycook and others (e.g., 2015) have studied the response of people to sayings they created.

The term bullshit is attributed to philosopher Harry Frankfurt of Harvard who wrote On Bullshit.

References

Pennycook, G., Cheyne, J. A., Barr, N., Koehler, D. J., & Fugelsang, J. A. (2015). On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit. Judgment and Decision Making, 10(6), 549–563.

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Brainwashing

 

Brainwashing is a term generally used to mean the process of controlling a person’s mind so that they think and act the way some other person wants them to act. Brainwashing is not a psychological science concept.

 

If the term “brainwashing” is used loosely, it can be refer to using techniques of persuasion. However, even though people can be persuaded to believe certain things or act in a particular way, the strategies of persuasion have limited effects.

 

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, a journalist named Edward Hunter was the first to use the term “brain-washing” in reference to Chinese techniques reportedly turning people into robot-like Communists in 1950.

 

Sadly, nations and groups use harmful strategies in attempts to convince people to believe or act in various ways. Some people do act in order to avoid pain or the threat of pain. But there is no guarantee that what they say or do is anything other than attempts to escape torture.

 

To learn more about the science of persuasion, see “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini.

 

Entry by Geoffrey W Sutton www.suttong.com

 

 

 

 

Backfire Effect

The backfire effect is the strengthening of a mistaken belief when presented with contrary evidence.

It appears that when people are heavily invested in their original views, contrary evidence is perceived as an attack on themselves and the decision they made. All new supportive evidence is accepted and contrary evidence rejected.

The backfire effect has been seen in efforts to counter racism and sexism.

Nyhan (2021) notes that the backfire effect does not explain the durability of political misperceptions and suggests other ways to weaken misperceptions about political and scientific information.

Read more about the backfire effect in research by Nyhan and Reifler (2010) and Nyhan (2021). 

Nyhan, B. (2021). Why the backfire effect does not explain the durability of political misperceptions. PNAS. 118 (15) e1912440117; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912440117

Nyhan, B., Reifler, J. When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions. Polit Behav 32, 303–330 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9112-2

Key concepts

misperception, backfire effect, misinformation, fake news, fact checking

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Virtue Signaling & Moral Grandstanding

 

Link to Time Image/Getty Images 2020

Virtue signaling is a 2015 term meaning that people are advertising themselves as kind, decent, and virtuous. Virtue signaling is a term used to shame others for their moral grandstanding.

Moral grandstanding combines the concept of a moral proclamation with the concept of a prominent display (see Tosi & Warmke, 2016). Making moral pronouncements is risky because human beings have different views on morality and rarely live lives that match the call to a moral stance.

Grandstanding of any type is also risky because people may look closely at what the speaker is saying or doing and find fault if the pronouncements from the public grandstand seem hollow, false, or a thinly disguised attempt to win votes or profit from a newly discovered cause—often presented as a moral cause.

Psychological scientists find that people are harsher in their moral judgments when they perceive a selfish motivation compared to people who do not make a moral judgment (Zaki & Cikara, 2020).

Zaki and Cikara suggest that virtue signaling may work under certain conditions. If you follow politics or religion, you have likely seen many people saying or doing things that their leaders say or do. Loud and prominent voices are signals. People often do not know what other’s think. Most people are influenced by frequent and persistent opinions. Opinions and information are powerful forces for social change. Opinions can create social norms, which people adopt without a great deal of thought.

Virtue signaling that leads to conformity may be judged in terms of effectiveness. The actions that are signaled are those subject to be examined for their moral worth.

Cite this post

Sutton, G. W. (2021, January 14). Virtue signaling & moral grandstanding. SuttonPsychology. https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2021/01/virtue-signaling-moral-grandstanding.html

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