14 Mental Traps That Insensibly

Control Our Lives

Sometimes we can fall into our own mind’s trap, and we make decisions that can
go completely wrong. And we don’t even realize it. Sometimes such decisions are
harmless, but some of them can lead to bad consequences.
Today Bright Side is going to tell you about these very traps. Read on, and never let
your mind fool you.

14. Dual standards

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We often try to explain other people’s behavior with the help of such arguments as life
troubles and problems. But when we justify our mistakes, we use circumstances that
don’t depend on us. Such mistakes sometimes make us think that we all have similar
lives, and that’s why it’s easy to blame the people around us.

13. A dispute for the sake of victory

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Scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber proposed a theory that claims people have
learned how to argue so as to have an opportunity to influence each other. Modern
society also depends on it, which is why people can’t stop disputing even if they’ve run
out of arguments. In ancient times, to lose a debate meant to reduce your chance
to live. That’s why we always argue until the end.

12. Comparing the incomparable

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We often compare things that are totally incomparable, and that’s why a causal
relationship becomes disrupted. For example, there is a belief that the bigger a dog is,
the angrier it becomes. But let’s agree that a dog’s size doesn’t affect its character
or behavior.

11. Trusting only “your” people

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Since ancient times, we wittingly or unwittingly divide people into groups. We trust the
people who are in “our” group more: friends and colleagues, for example. And we trust
the people who are outside of this group less, treating them with caution and suspicion.
This phenomenon is called “in-group favoritism”: people overstate “their” group’s
value and its members’ abilities and underestimate those they don’t know well.

10. Excessive generalization

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If you think that one thing that turned out to be true once will be true again on another
occasion, you’ve fallen into a trap. If a random cashier cheated you, it doesn’t mean that
each cashier is going to shortchange you.

9. The majority can’t be wrong.

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People are inclined to believe something if they know that someone else already
believes it. That’s how generally accepted rules that are treated as normal inside
a group appear. A person’s tendency to accept a group’s opinion is the reason
why we should treat statistical data critically.

8. We remember only our best traits and actions.

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People will be people. Almost every person remembers only their best features.
Sometimes we even have a tendency to exaggerate, but we don’t notice it. Daniel
Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner, said, “It’s surprising how rarely people change their
opinion. What is more, when they do that, they don’t even understand that. Changing
their opinion, many people correct their previous mindset by trying to persuade
themselves that they’ve always thought that way.”

7. Our brain thinks that we are different people in the

future.
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Different studies show that when we start thinking about ourselves in the future, the
parts of our brain that work when we think about different people become active.
In other words, if we’re asked to think about ourselves in the future, we imagine
a stranger who has almost nothing in common with our present self.

6. The Peltzman Effect

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The idea of this effect is that an abundance of different protective devices and safety
instructions leads to the feeling that a person is invincible — and the risk of an accident
increases. For example, if we take away a motorcyclist’s helmet or another piece
of equipment, they’ll ride much more safely than if they were fully equipped.

5. The “positive expectation” trap

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Such a trap is common among people who like to gamble: they’re sure that after
a series of fails, their good luck will appear, and the next game’s going to bring
a great prize. Misconceptions about lucky streaks work in the same way.

4. Rhyming phrases
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When people see rhyming slogans, they treat them as more trustworthy. These phrases
“stick” to us. That’s why companies often use such methods to make their goods and
services recognizable and their ads memorable.

3. There is always more bad news.

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People tend to notice bad news, and it’s not a sort of deviation. Scientists think that
we subconsciously treat bad news as more important. Moreover, bad news causes
more trust: it may happen because the good news seems to be too suspicious
and not so interesting.

2. The IKEA effect

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We always treat ordinary gloves or mittens knitted by Granny with a warm smile, though
we wouldn’t notice them at a store. It’s a great example that is called the IKEA effect.
It means that we often highly appreciate an item’s value if it’s related to us, our relatives,
or our friends.

1. The “superiority over others” trap

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During one experiment, people who drive a car were invited to compare their driving
skills to other drivers’ skills. Almost all of the experiment’s participants thought their
skills were “above average.” In most cases, people have a high opinion of their
skills. They overestimate their abilities and skill level, which is why they can’t rate
themselves objectively.
How can you avoid such traps? Try to reduce the influence of stereotypes, and never
confuse your own feelings with what the world tries to impose. How do you try to cope
with such mental tricks?