- Feb 18, 2021
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We all like to believe that we are free to make our own choices. At the same time, many people think that psychological techniques are constantly being used to sway us—from social media trends to advertising. So how do we square this?
Surprisingly, it's a question most researchers have ignored until now. But in a series of recent studies, we asked people "where in your day to day life do you think psychological tactics are being used to manipulate you unconsciously?"—and investigated what that meant for their belief in free will.
In a 2018 study across four countries (Australia, Canada, U.K. and the U.S.), responses to the question above were remarkably similar. In fact, they cut across age, gender, religiosity and political affiliation.
Approximately 45% of the examples people gave of psychological manipulation referred to marketing and advertising—especially "subliminal advertising" (using images or sounds to entice or persuade people that they aren't consciously aware of). The next most common (19%) was research (such as using placebos), then political campaigning (7%), social media (4%) and hypnotherapy (4%).
People typically described methods that subtly change mood, emotions and thoughts in such a way they that they persuade us into choosing or doing things that we have not consciously consented to. For instance, shops can pipe the smell of fresh baked bread outside it to entice people in. In a speech, a politician may emphasize specific words to persuade people to support them. Despite knowing such a thing could happen, we typically can't be sure when we were being manipulating in this way.
But do methods such as subliminal messaging actually work? Psychological research has not settled on an answer to this. But it is interesting to ponder how all this affects our belief in free will.
Read More at MedicalxPress...
Surprisingly, it's a question most researchers have ignored until now. But in a series of recent studies, we asked people "where in your day to day life do you think psychological tactics are being used to manipulate you unconsciously?"—and investigated what that meant for their belief in free will.
In a 2018 study across four countries (Australia, Canada, U.K. and the U.S.), responses to the question above were remarkably similar. In fact, they cut across age, gender, religiosity and political affiliation.
Approximately 45% of the examples people gave of psychological manipulation referred to marketing and advertising—especially "subliminal advertising" (using images or sounds to entice or persuade people that they aren't consciously aware of). The next most common (19%) was research (such as using placebos), then political campaigning (7%), social media (4%) and hypnotherapy (4%).
People typically described methods that subtly change mood, emotions and thoughts in such a way they that they persuade us into choosing or doing things that we have not consciously consented to. For instance, shops can pipe the smell of fresh baked bread outside it to entice people in. In a speech, a politician may emphasize specific words to persuade people to support them. Despite knowing such a thing could happen, we typically can't be sure when we were being manipulating in this way.
But do methods such as subliminal messaging actually work? Psychological research has not settled on an answer to this. But it is interesting to ponder how all this affects our belief in free will.
Read More at MedicalxPress...
Just skip it.
