112 checked facts

Behavior

Everything on this site about behavior — each one naming the study behind it.

You are more likely to lie after doing something good.
The moral licensing effect causes people to engage in unethical behavior after they have recently performed an act of …
You are more likely to lie if you wear counterfeit goods.
Studies suggest that wearing fake luxury products can induce a feeling of inauthenticity that leads to unethical behav…
You accept risks more when they are presented as gains.
The framing of a decision as a 'save' versus a 'loss' shifts your tolerance for risk, even when the math is identical.…
You are more likely to lie after doing something ethical.
Moral licensing is the subconscious process where performing a good deed makes you feel entitled to act in your own se…
You assume people are consistent even when they are not.
The 'Correspondence Bias' leads you to attribute behavior to personality rather than the situation.…
The faster your city, the less likely you are to help.
A 1999 study of 31 cities found a correlation between an aggregate 'pace of life' index—which included walking speed, …
You prioritize fairness only when it benefits you.
In the ultimatum game, participants often reject 'unfair' offers, even when rejecting means they lose all potential mo…
The smell of citrus makes you act more cleanly.
A 2005 study found that people who were exposed to a lemon scent kept their environment significantly cleaner.…
You act as if you are being watched even when alone.
A 2006 study showed that people are significantly more honest in tasks when a picture of eyes is displayed nearby.…
You spend more time on tasks that offer no reward.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng found that people persist with a task longer if they believe they are maki…
You feel an urge to act because you were asked.
Researchers found that simply being asked for a small favor increased a participant's future liking for that person.…
You value things more once you possess them.
The mere ownership effect is the finding that items are rated as more attractive simply because they are labeled as be…
You underestimate the power of your own habits.
Automaticity is the ability of well-practiced behaviors to run without conscious supervision or intent.…
You are worse at predicting your own behavior.
The introspection illusion is the tendency to trust one's own introspections as a reliable source of information while…
You reach goals faster when you create an if-then plan.
Formulating 'if-then' statements increases the likelihood of goal attainment because it delegates control to the envir…
You subconsciously shift your persona for every setting.
Individuals who score high in self-monitoring intentionally adjust their behavior to match the expectations of their i…
You are a stranger to your own reasons.
A 1977 study showed that people often invent plausible, but false, explanations for why they chose one object over ano…
You view your past habits through an overly optimistic lens.
The 'false hope syndrome' describes a phenomenon where people fail in their attempts to change because they set unreal…
You assume that people act according to their nature.
The correspondence bias is the tendency to explain behavior as a function of personality rather than the situational c…
You predict future happiness based on your current physical state.
The empathy gap describes your inability to understand how your decisions change when you move between a 'hot' state o…
Your expectations of someone actually dictate how they treat you.
The self-fulfilling prophecy describes how a false definition of a situation evokes behaviors that make the original c…
You are more honest when you feel observed by eyes.
A simple image of eyes displayed in a room increases prosocial behavior and honesty in participants.…
You value things more if you helped make them.
The IKEA effect demonstrates that personal labor increases the perceived value of an object, provided that the labor r…
You are more likely to lie when the incentive is small.
Research indicates that the level of dishonesty is largely independent of the magnitude of the reward.…
You make more ethical decisions in the morning.
A 2014 study found that people are more likely to behave dishonestly as the day progresses.…
Music tempo changes how you shop.
A 1986 study found that stores playing slower music saw significantly higher sales than those playing faster tempos.…
You only act when the result seems possible.
Expectancy theory states that motivation is the multiplicative product of three factors: expectancy (that effort leads…
You unconsciously adjust your gait to match others.
When walking with a partner, your stride frequency naturally synchronizes within minutes to match theirs.…
What you wear changes how your brain functions.
Wearing a garment identified as a doctor's coat reduced the number of errors made on specific selective attention task…
You judge people by their actions but yourself by intent.
Jones and Nisbett (1971) proposed that actors tend to attribute their behavior to situational factors while observers …
You take credit for your wins and blame bad luck elsewhere.
The self-serving bias is the tendency to perceive oneself as responsible for successes and external factors as respons…
You value an object more once it becomes yours.
The endowment effect shows that ownership increases your valuation of an item, even if you acquired it moments ago.…
You are more likely to agree after you have refused.
The door-in-the-face technique uses the psychological pressure of concession to secure a smaller request.…
Your brain prioritizes immediate comfort over future success.
A 1981 study found that pigeons consistently prefer a small reward now over a larger one in the future.…
You unconsciously mimic the body language of others.
People consistently adopt the postures and mannerisms of their conversation partners, a process termed the chameleon e…
The presence of more people makes you less helpful.
Darley and Latané (1968) found participants were 85% likely to help a person in need when alone, and 31% when four oth…
You rewrite your values to justify actions you already took.
Festinger's theory posits that when behavior conflicts with beliefs, individuals are motivated to reduce the resulting…
You consume the entire portion regardless of the amount.
Unit bias is the tendency to consume a single discrete unit of an item (such as one brownie or one scoop) regardless o…
You are less likely to help if others are around.
The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others inhibits your individual urge to intervene in an emergency.…
You prefer the way things are by default.
The status quo bias describes the tendency to maintain a current state because the potential losses of changing are pe…
Asking someone about their plans makes them more likely to act.
The mere measurement effect demonstrates that asking people if they will perform an action increases the probability t…
You think others are swayed more than you.
People consistently estimate that media, advertising, and opinions influence others far more than they influence thems…
If you have a hammer, everything is a nail.
People tend to apply the same familiar solution to every problem regardless of context.…
One small slip leads you to abandon everything.
The belief that a goal requires perfect execution turns a minor lapse into a total failure.…
The path of least resistance is almost always chosen.
Defaults significantly increase selection rates, but the magnitude of this effect is highly context-dependent and rare…
Your motivation increases as you approach a finish line.
The study using loyalty card stamps to demonstrate the goal gradient effect was conducted by Nunes and Drèze in 2006.…
Your best-case scenario is your default timeline for tasks.
People consistently underestimate the time, costs, and risks of future projects.…
Your performance improves solely because you are watched.
The Hawthorne effect describes how being observed alters your behavior.…
You blame your failures on the world around you.
The self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external ones.…
You view your own mistakes as bad luck.
The claim attributes both halves of the actor-observer asymmetry to the Fundamental Attribution Error.…
You are less likely to help someone if you are in a crowd.
The bystander effect demonstrates that the presence of others reduces your perceived personal responsibility to interv…
You become more likable after making a small, visible mistake.
The pratfall effect suggests that a minor error makes a highly competent individual more appealing, but can decrease t…
A small favor makes you say yes to big ones.
The foot-in-the-door technique increases compliance by securing a small, trivial commitment before asking for a substa…
Asking if you will act makes you more likely to.
The mere measurement effect describes a phenomenon where measuring intentions may influence subsequent behavior, thoug…
You are terrible at predicting your feelings in a cold state.
The hot-cold empathy gap prevents you from accurately anticipating how you will behave when you are hungry, angry, or …
A single new purchase triggers an endless cycle of consumption.
Grant McCracken's 1988 book 'Culture and Consumption' introduced the 'Diderot effect' as a sociological concept, inter…
You work harder as you approach a finish line.
The 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng demonstrated that providing artificial, or 'illusionary,' progress towar…
You overestimate your ability to control your impulses.
The restraint bias is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to show self-control in the face of tempta…
You value a service more when you see the work.
The labor illusion suggests that users perceive more value in a service if they observe the effort required to produce…
You create obstacles to explain your potential failure.
Self-handicapping is the act of putting barriers in your own way to protect your self-esteem.…
Being asked about a behavior makes you more likely to do it.
Asking someone about their intention to perform a future behavior can influence the likelihood of that behavior, but t…
You stop helping the moment a witness appears.
The bystander effect shows that the presence of other people decreases your likelihood of acting in an emergency.…
You want what you are told you cannot have.
Psychological reactance is a motivational state that occurs when your freedom to choose is threatened or eliminated.…
You change your own behavior when being watched.
The 'Hawthorne effect' is a popular but scientifically contested term used to describe the hypothesis that subjects ch…
You perform better at simple tasks when others watch.
The presence of an audience increases your speed on easy tasks.…
Simply predicting your behavior makes you more likely to act.
When people are asked to predict whether they will perform a behavior, they are statistically more likely to perform t…
You are more likable when you make small mistakes.
The pratfall effect shows that a blunder increases the attractiveness of a high-competence individual, while the same …
You like the people you encounter most frequently.
Physical proximity is a stronger predictor of friendship than shared interests.…
You value your possessions simply because you own them.
People demand more money to give up an item than they would have paid to acquire it.…
You keep finishing the book you dislike reading.
The tendency to follow through on an investment is often driven by the cost already incurred.…
You rate an object higher because you built it.
The IKEA effect suggests that individuals place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created.…
You value a small reward today over a larger one.
Hyperbolic discounting is the tendency for people to choose smaller, immediate rewards over larger, later rewards as t…
You stick to the status quo to avoid making a choice.
The default effect is your tendency to accept a pre-set option because it requires no active decision-making.…
Asking for your plan makes you likely to follow it.
The mere measurement effect describes how measuring intentions can influence behavior, though the outcome depends on t…
You consume more when portion sizes are labeled as units.
The unit bias explains why people eat or use more when a quantity is presented as a single item.…
You prefer things to stay exactly as they are.
Status quo bias describes a preference for the current state of affairs, even when changing it would provide a clear a…
You like people more when you live near them.
The propinquity effect is the tendency for people to form friendships with those they encounter in their daily physica…
You create obstacles to explain away your future failures.
Self-handicapping occurs when you intentionally place hurdles in your own path to protect your ego.…
You judge your behavior by your circumstances, not character.
Jones and Nisbett (1971) proposed the actor-observer asymmetry hypothesis, though subsequent meta-analyses have found …
You become less careful when you feel safer.
Peltzman's 1975 study argued that mandatory automobile safety regulations did not lead to the predicted decrease in ag…
You work faster as the finish line appears.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng provided empirical evidence supporting the goal gradient effect in consume…
You perform better around others on simple tasks.
A 1965 study demonstrated that the mere presence of others increases the likelihood of your dominant response.…
You treat people based on your expectations of them.
A 1968 study found that when teachers were told certain students were academic 'bloomers,' those students showed signi…
You adapt your behavior to fit what others expect.
A 1974 study found that high self-monitors consistently changed their behavior to match the social situation, whereas …
You only cheat when you can justify it to yourself.
A 2008 study found that participants were less likely to cheat when asked to recall the Ten Commandments, but cheated …
You feel a frantic urge to act during uncertainty.
In a study of professional soccer penalty kicks, goalkeepers were statistically more likely to dive left or right than…
The default choice shapes your entire life's direction.
While researchers like Johnson and Goldstein have shown that default settings correlate with higher registration rates…
Telling you not to do it makes it attractive.
A 1977 study by Brehm and Weinraub found that restricting access to a toy increased its desirability to children.…
You value immediate satisfaction more than future success.
Delay discounting is the tendency to prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. Hyperbolic discou…
Simply stating your intent makes you act more often.
The mere measurement effect suggests that asking about intentions can influence subsequent behavior, but the effect is…
You choose a known risk over an unknown one.
The Ellsberg Paradox shows that people prefer gambles with known odds over gambles where the probability is unknown.…
Rewarding a task you enjoy kills your intrinsic motivation.
The foundational 1973 study by Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett demonstrated the effect using art and drawing activities, n…
Your opinion shifts to match the perceived group consensus.
A 1951 study showed that participants would give a clearly incorrect answer just to align with the rest of the group.…
You are a terrible judge of your future self.
A 2003 study found that people systematically underestimate how much their future preferences will change based on the…
You work harder as you approach a goal.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng empirically resurrected the 1932 'goal-gradient hypothesis' by showing tha…
You feel compelled to restore your lost freedom.
Psychological reactance is a motivational state that arises when an individual's behavioral freedoms are threatened, w…
A minor lapse leads you to abandon all progress.
The what-the-hell effect explains why one small deviation from a goal often results in a total collapse of self-contro…
The presence of others changes how you perform tasks.
Social facilitation is the tendency to improve on simple, well-learned tasks when others are watching.…
You continue painful projects to avoid admitting loss.
Individuals invest more time and resources into a failing project simply because they have already invested in it.…
The silver medalist is sadder than the bronze.
A 1995 study found that Olympic silver medalists showed significantly less happiness than bronze winners.…
You treat the same amount of money differently.
Mental accounting causes people to categorize money into different 'accounts' based on the source, leading to irration…
You are harder on yourself during simple tasks.
Social facilitation reveals that the presence of others improves performance on simple, well-rehearsed tasks but degra…
You take the credit and blame the world.
A 1975 study by Miller and Ross examined the self-serving bias, questioning whether the attribution of success to inte…
You will change your answer to fit the group.
A 1951 study found that 74% of participants gave at least one incorrect answer to a simple task to match the majority.…
You adopt the mood of the room without choosing.
A 1994 research review found that people automatically mimic the facial expressions and postures of those around them.…
You exert less effort when you are not alone.
A 1913 study found that individuals pulling on a rope in a group exert less force than when pulling individually.…
You judge others by their character, not their context.
A 1967 study found that people attributed views expressed in an essay to the writer's internal beliefs, even when told…
You continue losing ventures because of the investment already made.
A 1985 study found that people are more likely to continue investing in a failing project if they have already committ…
You value money differently depending on where it came from.
A 1985 study found that people treat funds differently—and are more likely to spend 'windfall' gains—even when the amo…
Asking if you will do a task makes it likelier.
A 1993 study showed that simply surveying people about their intention to perform a future behavior increases the like…
You value a goal more when it requires significant effort.
A 1959 study demonstrated that individuals rated a discussion group as more interesting if they had to undergo an emba…
The size of a serving unit changes how much we eat.
A 2006 study showed that people ate significantly more when snacks were presented in larger units rather than smaller,…