The Barnum Effect in Psychology (What is it in Simple Words)

The Thatcher Effect in psychology is a clear example of how we perceive the faces and emotions of others. Similar studies show that when the face is turned upside down, fine details are no longer recognized. A familiar face in a normal position is recognized in 95% of cases. If you reflect it vertically, then it is recognized 2 times less often. At the same time, the perception of the emotions of the depicted person changes. It is difficult to determine what a person is really experiencing if the image of their face is inverted.

If you turn back only the lips and eyes in the reflected face, then recognizing a familiar face becomes easier. Emotions are defined much more accurately. At the same time, subjects (if they don’t know what the catch is) usually do not pay attention to the fact that the lips and eyes are upside down. Once you unfold such a collage, it immediately becomes clear that the face is wrong.

The Thatcher effect in psychology - what is it?

1.Definition
2. Signs
3.Examples from life
4. Illusions of our perception

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The history of the Pygmalion effect

The phenomenon received its name in honor of the character of ancient Greek mythology - the ancient sculptor Pygmalion. One day Pygmalion created a statue of a lovely girl out of ivory. Seeing the result of his work, the creator fell madly in love with his creation. He showered her with kisses, presented her with expensive gifts, and tirelessly admired her.

Then the sculptor turned to the goddess of love Aphrodite for help. Having brought her gifts, Pygmalion asked with all his heart to meet with the woman who looked like a statue. His feeling and desire were so sincere that the goddess took pity on him and revived the statue. This myth is a clear demonstration that a person's sincere faith is capable of much.

The Pygmalion effect in psychology is that a person, convinced of the authenticity of information, builds his line of behavior in such a way that this information is confirmed.

What factors contribute to the Barnum effect?

From a psychological point of view, there are three factors that contribute to the Barnum-Forer effect.

The last factor is precisely the reason why, between two test results, most students choose false ones. No one wants to believe a negative characterization or admit their shortcomings.

This list should also include a penchant for mysticism and gullibility. These two qualities also contribute to the Barnum effect. Moreover, with their help it is easy to convince a person of the veracity of a horoscope or prediction, even when half of the information described in it is completely untrue.

Barnum effect: examples

To help you better understand what the Barnum effect is, we will give examples from life. Let's start, of course, with the person who first used this phenomenon for his own purposes.

✔️ To attract the attention of the public, Phineas Barnum subtly manipulated people. His career as a circus owner began with the purchase of an elderly African American slave. He traveled with her throughout the United States and said that his slave was over 160 years old. According to legend, this woman was the nanny of George Washington himself, the famous US President. Phineas Barnum spread incredible rumors about his slave, drawing public attention to her over and over again. And despite the obvious improbability of these rumors, people believed in them and willingly went to the circus performance.

✔️ A closer and more understandable example to us is the TV show “Battle of Psychics,” which has been popular for more than one year. The heroes of this show often give more than vague explanations to the questions asked of them, but at the same time continue to be popular with the population. Those of them who apply the Barnum effect in practice with the greatest success enjoy the reputation of “powerful magicians” and “talented psychics.” In fact, they simply tell people what their clients would like to hear, earning hundreds of thousands of rubles from it.

Bottom line

You should not take the word of even the most authoritative people and sources. Treat information critically, analyze it and look for inconsistencies. Only in this case you will not become a victim of talented scammers.

Carolina Korableva

About the author: Hello! I am Karolina Korableva. I live in the Moscow region, in the city of Odintsovo. I love life and people. I try to be realistic and optimistic in life. What I value in people is their ability to behave. I am interested in psychology, in particular conflictology. Graduated from RGSU, Faculty of Occupational Psychology and Special Psychology.

The Pygmalion effect in everyday life

The Rosenthal effect often manifests itself in the life of any person:

the most common example is low self-esteem. It is difficult for a person to achieve career growth if he assesses his mental abilities as below average. Due to rejection of oneself and one’s appearance, difficulties arise in one’s personal life;
The manifestation of this phenomenon is also observed in medicine. With a joint constructive attitude between the doctor and the patient during the treatment period, the results in most cases will be positive. In turn, the negative emotions of the attending physician have a detrimental effect on the general condition of the patient. The result is deterioration in health
In pedagogy, the Pygmalion effect is also possible. If the teacher treats the student with disdain, the child’s academic performance will be low. This entails poor performance and deviant behavior. In this example, the reason for such student behavior lies in the teacher himself, his subjective attitude towards the student. The child subconsciously adopts the image of a bully and a lazy person inspired by him.

This phenomenon explains the high performance indicators of teachers’ “favorites” and the low performance indicators of students whom teachers do not like for a number of reasons.

Definition

This effect is named in honor of Margaret Thatcher, not for her merits (although they are undeniable).
English psychologist and experimenter Peter Thompson discovered and studied this illusion in 1980. Then the “Iron Lady” was famous. In Britain she was the most recognizable politician. Therefore, her portrait was chosen to study the perception and recognition of faces and emotions. Peter Thompson created the collage. I cut out the eyes and mouth from the portrait and carefully glued them back on, but upside down. This phenomenon shows how erroneous our visual perception is.

When studying an inverted collage, the process occurs in the following stages:

Our brain evaluates an image based on individual details.
The main elements of the face (eyes, mouth) are composed.
Elements are judged by our perception to be interconnected.
The position of the eyes relative to the mouth is assessed.
We see the image without noticing that it is incorrect.

Only when the portrait is turned into a straight orientation does our brain evaluate the image holistically.
We notice "inconsistencies." Faces and emotions are recognized by eyes and lips. Therefore, if you expand the edited face, it will be easier to recognize the person and what feelings she is experiencing. Since the eyes and lips are located in the usual way.

If subjects immediately see the portrait not upside down, then:

the person depicted is less recognized;
misidentify emotions;
note that the face is severely deformed;
determine that the eyes and lips are turned.

Looking at the altered, grotesque face, almost all observers claim that the woman in the photo is experiencing anger.
With a gradual rotation (90°), the features soften. The face becomes more recognizable. It becomes clear that the woman in the photo is smiling. The Thatcher effect is used to study visual perception. It is not necessary to use a photograph of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. It is replaced by portraits of other famous personalities. To study how a person determines the emotions of his interlocutor, it is not necessary to use recognizable faces; these can be photographs of anyone.

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Rosenthal effect and business

Recently, it has become relevant to study the influence of the Pygmalion (Rosenthal) effect on career growth in various fields of business. A number of studies have documented a correlation between a company's performance and the manager's belief in its success.

The differences between a successful employee and an outsider directly depend on the attitude of management towards them. The administration either shows trust in its subordinates or it does not. Management behavior plays a key role in this situation.

Consciously or unconsciously, a manager who mentally sets the bar high for his employees inspires them to achieve high performance. Nonverbal signs and a favorable attitude are very subtly felt.

Conversely, a leader who doubts the strengths and capabilities of his subordinates ultimately lives up to his own expectations.

An employee who fears failure and displeasure from management will prevent situations that lead to difficulties. For example, he will back out of a deal for fear of being rejected.

A low level of expectations on the part of the administration contributes to the manifestation of errors and failures in the work of subordinates.

An analysis of other studies has demonstrated that young professionals are more dependent on the point of view of their superiors. And this point of view is fundamental for their future career growth or, conversely, stagnation.

Illusions of our perception

We all believe that what we see is true.
Is it really? Our vision often lets us down and deceives us. Now we are not talking about those who have initial impairments (astigmatism, myopia, farsightedness, etc.). The Thatcher effect is in psychology, the same striking example of the illusory nature of perception as other visual phenomena. By the way, which of these optical illusions are most memorable and seem interesting to you? Feel free to write your answers in the comments.

Sannikova Stela · 08 Dec, 2020

How to use the Pygmalion Effect to your advantage

The Pygmalion effect can radically affect a person’s life:

knowing about the existence of this phenomenon, a person can contemplate it in action, minimize the negative impact and use it for self-development purposes;
As such, the Rosenthal effect is not a technique for developing intelligence and mental abilities. It acts as motivation. By providing favorable constructive attitudes and getting rid of negative thoughts, we can achieve high results in school, work, sports and other areas. Someone's fleeting praise, glance, intonation influences our self-esteem. People's faith inspires us. This affects our expectations of ourselves. People who are confident in themselves and their abilities shape their character and behavior in such a way that all their actions lead to the desired result;
By monitoring the harmful effects of a phenomenon, it is possible to take control of it and resist negative attitudes. After all, pessimistic expectations are equivalent to a vicious circle. You need to have great willpower to find the positive in a number of negative circumstances;
our confidence in the abilities of our family and friends will give them access to hidden internal reserves. This is partly the essence of the modern technique of visualizing desires. This is especially important in the process of raising children. Be sure to tell your children that they can handle any difficulties, they will cope with everything. And a positive result will not keep you waiting!
Knowing how the Rosenthal effect works and taking control of it, it is possible to achieve great success in business. It is valuable for improving the company's productivity. All you need is a positive attitude towards your subordinates and faith in their abilities.

What is the Barnum effect?

Do you believe in the predictions of astrologers, horoscopes and other attempts to characterize a person without detailed questionnaires? Maybe you have friends who can surprise you with the phrase “typical Aries” or “well, he’s a Sagittarius, this is normal for him”? If the answer to at least one of these questions is yes, you should definitely learn about the Barnum-Forer effect.

The Barnum effect is, in simple terms, the tendency of people to believe in the truthfulness of “streamlined” phrases and characteristics.

Let's give a simple example. Now every reader recognizes himself. So, you are a fairly self-possessed person, but sometimes you have such outbursts of emotions that are almost impossible to contain. From time to time you have a headache in the frontal lobe or occipital region. Your friends and family value you for your sincerity, devotion, and ability to support you in a difficult situation. Learning something new can be boring for you, but if the subject matter is really interesting and the teacher knows how to present the material, you will learn with enthusiasm.

What do you think? Which of the following is true about you? Let's face it - although every person is unique, we all share the same habits, inclinations and vices. There is no person who is never lazy or always in a good mood. Therefore, each of us can be described with such a set of clichés, of which 95% will actually be true.

The name of this phenomenon was given by the name of the famous American magician, owner of his own circus and simply resourceful person Phineas Barnum. He was the first to notice how easy it was to mislead people and actively took advantage of it. Understanding the intricacies of the human psyche allowed him to create spectacular shows in which, in his words, “everyone could find something of their own.”

Speaking about the Barnum effect, one cannot fail to mention such a character trait as mysticism. Many people tend to believe in the unusual, magical, otherworldly. Combined with the Barnum effect described above, this makes them victims of numerous scams.

Imagine a situation: a gypsy woman comes up to you on the street, takes your palm in her hand and begins to “tell fortunes.”

She says: “I see that you are a good person. But not long ago there was a loss in your life. Because of this, you sometimes feel sad. Don't worry - everything will get better soon. In three days you must meet a person who can change your destiny.”

Even a person who is not inclined towards mysticism will begin to believe this fortune-telling. And this is also the influence of the Barnum effect. When we hear this kind of prediction addressed to us, we subconsciously begin to substitute real events into it.

Let's go back to the fortune teller example. Who will deny that he is a good person? Flattery is always pleasant, but not everyone can objectively evaluate themselves. Everyone has losses. Someone will think about lost money or documents, someone will remember a recently deceased pet. The same applies to a “fateful” meeting - any person can influence your life, especially if you are waiting for it and perceive every event as a sign of fate.

To prove that the tendency to believe in the truthfulness of “streamlined” phrases and characteristics is characteristic of all people without exception, the Barnum-Forer experiment was conducted.

He made it possible to explain why even smart, educated, sensible people become victims of deception by numerous fortune tellers, astrologers and other scammers.