Behavioral Psychology

Notes

What drives our actions? which forces, either internal or external influence our behavior? These are the questions related to behavioral psychology

Negative Influences

1. Path Dependence - When we are unable to change course because we are locked by decisions made in the past. the Shirky Principle is an example of such a dependence.

2. Rationalization - When we justify "after the fact" the emotional state we are in without acknowledging the facts.

3. Procrastination - When we let distractions take hold of our focus

4. Narratives - When our identity is controlled by narratives that are forced on us.

5. Intuition - When we make "gut" decisions, that might be biased or mislead.

6. Imposter Syndrome - When we feel incapable despite having expertise.

7. Hustle Culture - When we are pushed to do more and more, the be "busy" for the sake of business.

8. External Influence - When we let outside forces determine who we are, what we believe in, and how we feel about it.

9. Emotional Projection - When we project our feelings on others, instead of dealing with them ourselves.

10. Cognitive Alignment - When we can't separate our identity or preferences from our actions.

11. Self Criticism - When we are our worse judges

12. Escapism - when we get stuck at running away from our problems instead of addressing them

13. Addiction- when what we escape to has a harmful effect on us.

14. FOMO - when we feel anxiety for what we don't have while neglecting what we do have

15. Denial - when we lie to ourselves

16. Indifference - when we don't care about anything

17. Impulsivity - when we act without thinking in a regretable manner

Positive Influences

1. Nudge - To use the environment in our favor to support better decisions
2. Role Models - When we find someone who is a symbol for the behavior and thinking we wish to promote in ourselves, and copy them
3. Resonance - When we become in sync with the world around us
4. belief - either an approach of fake it till you make it , or using the Placebo effect to cultivate something within us through the sheer power of belief.
5. Commitment Devices - When we use external tools to make sure we stick with our preferred behavior.
6. Systematical thinking - To look for causes and connection between ideas, common themes and mechanisms such that it will be easier to understand, utilize, and adapt to
7. introspection - To look within you and understand what has lead to a behavior or a thought to arise
8. Life as Flow - To view life as something harmonious with your surroundings, to connect to nature, to understand our place in the world, be attentive but not aggressive. To work with what life gives us, not against it.
9. Cognitive Distancing - To understand that we are capable of change, that the fact that we did something, we were a certain somebody, isn't our destiny. That we can see things in perspective and react to it, instead of being lead by it
10. Reverse Thinking - Sometimes the more we try to get something, the farther from it we get. The answer is to actually look at it from a different perspective.
11. Saying no - It is hard for us to go against society's desires and expectations, but our freedom and control starts the moment we learn to filter and choose what to say no to
12. Clean Slate - moments of a fresh start can bring momentum for change
13. Flow - Find the right balance between challenge and passion can bring a sensation of pure focus and efficiency.
14. Advice - When we help and are being helped by others.
15. Safe Base - when there is a person or a place that recharges us
16. self talk - When we become our best ally

Common Concepts

1. Intrinsic - When we use something for it's value, for what it is, when it is the object of our desires.
2. Instrumental - When we use something as a tool, as a stepping point on our way to get something else
3. Incentives - The way an environment is built, affects the choices we make within it.
4. Game Theory - a mathematical way to represent a decision making process.
5. Elephant and the Rider - Our behavior is influenced both by rational thinking (rider), and emotional motivation (elephant)
6. Crowding Out - When our attempts to promote a behavior actually diminishes it
7. Context - Every behavior is based on the context in which it is made
8. Priming - The environment has a huge effect on our behavior
9. Curse of Knowledge - when we can't "unlearn" what we know so it's hard to connect to others
10. Organizational Conflict - our reaction to a situation might vary from proactiveness and positive to passive and negative.
11. Reactance - when we rebel against other's expectations
12. Econs - Thinking machines of pure rationality
13. Dependency - to base your happiness on other things

Books

Flow (book) Maybe you should talk to someone (book) Quiet (book) The Four Tendencies (book)

Podcasts

you are not so smart Hidden Brain Bookworm Choiceology

Newsletters

The Curiosity Chronicle by Sahil Bloom

Other MOC