Mind-Blowing Psychology Facts that Seriously Explain Everything Part 4

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1. We'd rather skew the facts than change our beliefs about people.

Humans hate "cognitive dissonance": when a fact counters something we believe. That's why when, we hear that a loved one did something wrong or garbage, we undermine how bad it really was, or we tell ourselves that science exaggerates when a study tells us we really need to move more.

2. People rise to our high expectations (and don't rise if we have low ones).

You may have heard of the Pygmalion effect before—basically, we do well when other people think we will, and we don't do well when people expect us to fail. The idea came from a famous 1960s study in which researchers told teachers that certain students (chosen at random) had high potential based on IQ tests. Those students did indeed go on to be high achievers, thanks to their teachers' expectations in them.

3. Social media is psychologically designed to be addictive.

Told yourself you'd just quickly check your Facebook notifications, and 15 minutes later you're still scrolling? You're not alone. Part of that has to do with infinite scroll: When you can stay on the site without actually interacting and clicking, your brain doesn't get that "stop" cue.

4. We can convince ourselves a boring task was fun if we weren't rewarded.

Here's another great example of cognitive dissonance: Volunteers in one Psychology of Learning and Motivation study did a boring task, then were paid either $1 or $20 to convince someone that it was actually pretty interesting. The ones who were paid $20 knew why they'd lied (they got a decent reward) and still thought it was boring, but the ones who'd only gotten a buck actually convinced themselves it really was fun, because their brains didn't have a good reason to think they'd been lying.

5. Power makes people care less about others.

You've probably heard about the famous Stanford prison experiment. (Refresher: College students were randomly assigned to be either a prisoner or guard in a fake prison, and the "guards" started harassing the "prisoners." It got so bad that the two-week experiment was canceled after six days.). That's pretty extreme, but later studies have found that when people feel like they're in a power position, they become worse at judging a person's feelings based on their facial expressions, indicating a loss of empathy.

6. To our ancestors, sugar and fat were good things.

Why, oh why, does cake have to taste better than vegetables? Well, because that's how we were primed for millions of years. For our ancestors, getting a quick hit of energy from sugar and then storing it as fat, or eating plenty of fat to keep our bodies and brains fueled meant more energy in the long run. But now that sugary, fatty foods are easy (a little too easy) to eat and overeat, our bodies are still primed to store that fat—even though we don't need it.

7. Our brain doesn't think long-term deadlines are so important.

Pretty much everyone has procrastinated at one time or another, even though we know logically that it would make more sense to get a jump on our taxes than to turn on Netflix. We prefer urgent, unimportant tasks because we know we'll be able to complete them. There's also evidence that when we see the deadline looming in terms of days, rather than months or years, because we feel more connected to a day-by-day passing of time.

8. We loosen our morals when an authority tells us to.

It's one of the oldest psychology facts in the books: In the 1960s, Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram infamously conducted an experiment that he thought would prove Americans wouldn't accept immoral orders like the Nazis had. For a "learning task," volunteers were told to deliver shocks to a "learner" (an actor, little known to the real volunteers) if they got an answer wrong. To Milgram's horror, the participants continued delivering shocks, even when the learner screamed in pain.

9. Money can buy happiness, but only up to a certain point.

Research shows that in terms of income, people have a "satiation point" where happiness peaks and earning more won't actually make you happier. Different studies have suggested various amounts (one 2010 study said $75,000, but a 2018 survey said $105,000), but the point is the same: Constantly aiming for more, more, more won't necessarily do you any good.

10. It's not just how much money we make, it's how we spend it.

Even if you haven't topped out to your happiest income, your money can still determine your happiness. You've probably already heard about research that shows we're more satisfied when we spend money on experiences (a nice meal out or theater tickets) than on possessions because it helps us socialize and feel more alive. But another study published in Science found another strategy for using money the most satisfying way: spending on other people instead of ourselves.