Social psychology, a few facts about human psychology

Interesting facts about human psychology: recent discoveries

Science, which studies the patterns of emergence, development and functioning of the psyche, cannot stand still. Research conducted over the past few years has revealed new interesting facts about human psychology.

1. Happiness is still in money. A study conducted by scientists Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn helped refute the famous proverb. These people were able to prove that money plays a big role in building a happy life. However, scientists insist that they need to be spent correctly. The results of the study helped to come to the conclusion that what you should buy is not things, but experiences. The former quickly become boring, while the latter allow you to indulge in pleasant memories. For example, going to the theater or concert is preferable to purchasing another pair of shoes.
2. The working day cannot begin before 10 am. Researcher Paul Kelly has been observing people's biorhythms for a long time. He proved that before 10 o'clock in the morning an individual does not work as efficiently.
3. Communication with satisfied people is a direct path to happiness. Researchers have proven that being around unhappy people for a long time causes a person to become stressed. If he communicates with those who are satisfied with their lives, he is charged with positive emotions.
4. The impressions of what is happening depend on the music. Scientists have found that the perception of a particular event is directly related to the musical background. Sound creates an emotional response. This allows music to be used to treat psychological disorders.
5. It is better to think in a foreign language. This makes the thought process less automatic. The areas of the brain that are responsible for logic are included in the work. It is easier for a person to make the right decisions.

These are new interesting facts about human psychology. In addition, research has helped establish that telling others about your goals is dangerous. At this moment, a person experiences satisfaction from the impression he makes on others. As a result, his motivation decreases.

Relationships between spouses

Relationships with a loved one are fraught with difficulties and pleasant moments. Psychological facts will help you understand the points of interest in relationships:

1. When an individual finds love, the neural circuits of the brain are suppressed, which leads to making a wrong decision.
2. Couples who met during emergency situations are the strongest.
3. More often than not, individuals fall in love with individuals similar to their parents.
4. To strengthen fading feelings, you need to create a secret accessible only to one of the members of the couple.
5. The success of a marriage depends on the duration of the courtship.
6. In most cases, successful relationships are observed in couples where the man is younger than the woman.
7. Romance lasts 1 year.
8. Scientists have proven that making quarrels public increases love.
9. There are 38% of people in the world who will never find love.
10. To reduce feelings of bitterness after a breakup, you need to engage in active sports. Physical activity produces dopamine, which suppresses feelings of despair.

Mistrust is considered the main factor in the occurrence of quarrels and breakdowns in relationships.

Attention

It plays an important role in everyday life and at work. It will be useful for everyone to learn interesting facts about human attention. Psychology is a science that studies this issue.

1. A person is able to focus on only one object at a time. Doing several things at once negatively affects the result. You shouldn’t communicate with colleagues, answer emails, and talk on the phone at the same time.
2. The maximum concentration time does not exceed 10 minutes. After this, it inevitably dissipates, and the level of perception deteriorates. You need to be distracted for a while in order to then concentrate on the object again.
3. Everyone has their own “internal clock”. Some people find it easier to concentrate in the first half of the day, while others find it easier in the second. This must be taken into account when planning your affairs.

Fact #7 – We need as much choice as possible.

Psychologists conducted an interesting experiment. They placed two tables in a large supermarket. The first one featured 25 types of jam, and the second one – only 5. Buyers were invited to taste the product.

The results were amazing. More than 65% of people came to the first table to try the jam, however, when it came to making purchases, the second table was 75% more popular! Why did this happen?

The human brain can focus on no more than 3-4 things at a time. Consequently, it is much easier to make a final choice from fewer options.

However, we are naturally curious and therefore want to choose from a wide range. In this case, there are many alternatives that may be of interest.

Memory

The ability to absorb information is important to success. Many studies in psychology are devoted to it. Interesting facts about human memory are listed below.

1. Smell can be an effective trigger. Research has shown that a particular scent can evoke many memories in a person. For example, the smell of candy may remind you of time spent in your grandmother's house as a child.
2. There is a direct connection between memory and sleep. People who are deprived of the opportunity to get enough sleep remember information worse.
3. A newborn has a memory. Research has helped establish that already at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the embryo begins to record certain events.
4. Memory depends on the profession. For example, scientists, teachers, actors, and announcers have problems with it less often. This is due to the fact that these people get used to memorizing a large amount of text.
5. Memory develops up to 25 years of age. The peak occurs at 19-20 years of age, and the decline begins at 50 years of age.

Stories from the past are also of interest. Some famous people have had extraordinary memories. Archaeologist G. Schliemann could learn a new language in 6-8 weeks. Themistocles knew by name all the inhabitants of Athens - about 20 thousand people. Cardinal Mezzofanti spoke 100 languages. Alexander the Great knew by name all the soldiers in his army - about 30 thousand people.

Founders and followers of the direction

Social psychology owes its formation and development to many researchers:

1. M. Lazarus, G. Steinthal are considered the founders of a new scientific direction. We published a journal on ethnic psychology and linguistics.
2. G. Tarde - conducted numerous criminological studies based on social knowledge. Thanks to this scientist, the theory of personality suppression when interacting with a crowd appeared.
3. G. Le Bon is a famous sociologist who developed the theory of social processes and introduced the concept of “mental contagion.”
4. E. Durkheim - founded the theory of the unity of society, which depends on generally accepted social values.
5. W. McDougall - in 1908 published the work “Introduction to Social Psychology.” In it, he tried to systematize the accumulated knowledge on the study of society. This year is considered the final stage in the emergence of social psychology.
6. V. Mede - thanks to his works, became the founder of experimental social psychology. He studied the behavior of individuals who were away from society.
7. G. Allport is a scientist from America who was a follower of V. Mede and improved his teachings.
8. K. Lewin is the founder of the phenomenological approach.
9. Y. (J.) Moreno - developed the method of sociometry.
10. J. G. Mead is the founder of interactionism. This direction studied many problems, which included social roles, communication, the status of individuals in various groups,
11. E. Ross is the founder of the socio-cultural approach.
12. R. Walters, A. Bandura - created the theory of social learning.
13. W. McDougall is the founder of the evolutionary approach.

Among the Russian scientists who made a great contribution to the development of social psychology, we can highlight V. M. Bekhterev, L. S. Vygotsky, B. F. Porshnev, N. K. Mikhailovsky.

Capabilities

All people are different. However, everyone will find interesting facts about human abilities useful. In psychology, many studies are also devoted to this topic.

1. If an individual fears that others will not recognize his abilities and talents, he will deliberately belittle them. Sometimes this is done contrary to common sense. This allows a person to put himself in a position where he will not easily be underestimated.
2. Talented people tend to constantly doubt themselves. Individuals who do not have outstanding abilities often overestimate them. The more knowledgeable a person is, the more likely he is to admit that he may be wrong.
3. Every person is able to convince his brain that he got a good night's sleep. Studies have shown that it is enough to believe in this - and people feel a surge of strength. This phenomenon is called "placebo sleep." However, taking a full night's rest does not replace it.
4. The ability for social connections is limited. Psychologists have established the maximum possible number of close people – 150.
5. The human brain is capable of producing from 12 to 50 thousand thoughts per day.

Fact #5 – We cannot ignore 3 things: danger, food and sex

Have you ever wondered why people stop on roads when they see an accident, or near tall buildings when they see a potential suicide victim about to jump? There is an explanation for this - our “curious” brain.

It has a section responsible for survival. Its presence is the result of long evolution. So, without realizing it, we perceive all the things around us, scanning them according to 3 parameters:

1. Could it harm me?
2. Is it edible?
3. Is it suitable for reproduction?

Of course, these three questions arise in our subconscious.

Interesting! In ancient times, intimacy, danger and food were the three things that determined the existence of people.

Of course, modern man is significantly different from his primitive ancestors, but his brain continues to remember how important these things are for the survival of the species.

Stronger sex

Modern research has shown that representatives of different sexes do not differ from each other as much as previously thought. However, a certain difference still exists. Below are some interesting facts about male psychology.

1. Men tell lies more often than women do. On average, they lie about six times a day. Representatives of the fair sex cheat only three times during the day.
2. Men who are satisfied with their family life often gain extra pounds.
3. Representatives of the stronger sex are more likely to decide to start life from scratch. For example, one 99-year-old man left his 96-year-old wife, with whom he had lived for about 77 years. The man was prompted to this act by the news that his wife cheated on him in 1940.
4. Guys are more likely to take revenge on their offenders than girls. One American bought a house opposite the house of his ex-passion for one single purpose. He decided to install in the courtyard, which overlooked her windows, a huge statue depicting the middle finger.

Fact #9 – About 60% of decisions we make unconsciously

We want to think that all our actions and actions are well understood. But that's not true. We do most of them on autopilot. Questions such as “why?”, “where?” and “how much?”, we rarely ask ourselves on a conscious level, as we tend to trust our intuition or subconscious.

Important! Every second, the human brain registers a million pieces of data, so in order to reduce the load, it puts some of the information into the subconscious.

Which of these facts surprised you the most? Leave your answer in the comments!

Fair sex

Interesting facts about the psychology of women can also surprise.

1. It is important for women to hold something in their hands while walking, otherwise they feel discomfort. This encourages them to carry their handbags with them everywhere.
2. Representatives of the fair sex cry on average 30-60 times a year. Tears for them are an easy way to get rid of tension. For comparison, men do this 6-17 times a year.
3. It is difficult for women to admit their guilt. They apologize less often than the stronger sex does.
4. Ladies love to ask questions to which there is no clear answer. Sometimes they do this to make men feel guilty.
5. Women are more curious. They find it difficult not to answer when the phone rings.

Fact #1 – We change our memories all the time.

A person’s memory can be compared to a book or a music record, the information on which is regularly updated. We believe that our memories are always objective, but we are mistaken.

Important! Events of the past are transformed every time we think about them.

The content of our memory is influenced by many factors, including:

1. Other people's vision of the situation.
2. Our own memory gaps.
3. Accumulation of new emotions and impressions, etc.

Let's give an example. You don't remember who was at the family dinner 15 years ago. But a family friend has been visiting your home regularly for many years. In this case, the likelihood that your brain will “inscribe” her image at a long-ago celebration into the memory program is very high.

Love

What other interesting facts about psychology are known? This science pays great attention to love.

• Scientists compare this feeling to drug addiction. Therefore, the treatment of unhappy love is carried out in a similar way. First of all, a person needs to remove all reminders (joint photos, gifts, etc.) and do something completely new.
• Love lasts on average 1.5-3 years. If there are various obstacles (separation, lack of reciprocity), this period may increase.
• Novelty saves love. Many couples regain the ability to do crazy things when they come to a foreign country, stay in an unfamiliar hotel, and so on.

Hatred

In psychology, attention is also paid to hatred.

1. A study was once conducted to determine whether all people experience this feeling. It turned out that over half of the respondents had never encountered it.
2. It's hard to hate without personal contact. Typically, people experience this feeling towards those they encounter regularly.
3. Love can truly turn into hate. Often the targets are close relatives (mother, father, sisters, brothers), ex-husbands and wives.
4. Many people hate the other halves of their friends.

Conversations in animals

25Lobsters communicate by urinating on each other.
They have two bladders located on either side of their head. They have small urine jets just below their eyes, which they use to spray the substance on each other. Loose urine contains a chemical message that can convey a variety of things, including simple recognition, aggression, and attraction. These are the conversations.

26Elephants are incredibly afraid of bees. Therefore, they have special signals - words:

...Attention bees!

27By and large, 50% of what is said in a day has absolutely no meaning.

And the most incredible thing is that our hearing and thoughts do not coincide. We hear much slower than our brain thinks.

You and I listen to 110-125 words per minute, and the brain uses up to 3,000 words/min while thinking.

Soon we will not talk, but think with each other.

Stories, research

What else can you learn from research-based facts and interesting articles about psychology?

A person is able to pay attention to danger, sex and food. This is due to the struggle for survival that people have been waging for many centuries. Food is necessary for humanity to exist. Sex is the realization of the instinct of procreation. Attention to dangers is associated with a subconscious fear of death. A person will always stop to look at scenes of disasters and accidents.

The stories of different people who have achieved success often have one common detail. Even as children, they learned to give up what they really wanted in order to later get more.

Nightmares may have a very simple explanation that is not directly related to psychology. They can bother people who feel cold in their sleep.

Researchers compared the love stories of people with different eye colors. This made it possible to identify interesting patterns. Blue-eyed people only need a few minutes to fall in love. Green-eyed people need much more time, this can take years. Individuals with brown eyes are capable of loving two people at the same time.

Interaction with other sciences

Social psychology interacts with many sciences:

1. History is the study of the behavior of people and individual groups at different periods of time. This takes into account various factors that influence interactions between individual subjects.
2. Philosophy - both sciences perfectly complement each other with teachings.
3. Ethnography and cultural studies reveal the influence of culture and belonging to different nationalities on communication between individuals.
4. Economics - studies the influence of certain economic processes on relations between social groups.
5. Pedagogy - studies the processes of education and training of people in order to achieve the necessary results.

Problems of relationships between individuals have worried researchers since ancient times. The data that researchers obtained through observation, surveys, tests, and other techniques accumulated. Scientists decided to systematize them and create a separate direction dedicated to the study of society. This is how social psychology appeared, which is a relevant scientific field.