Behavioral Grooves Podcast - Halloween Special: Grooving on Scary Biases

Halloween Special: Grooving on Scary Biases

10/31/21 • 18 min

3 Listeners

Listen to Kurt and Tim’s spooky Halloween Special about some common biases that can seem a bit scary. But don’t fear, the scariest thing about this episode is actually Kurt and Tim’s jokes! Find out why some biases are a bit spooky, what makes us susceptible to them, and most importantly how we can overcome them.

Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit about how to overcome the biases you may find impacting your life. If you’d like to support our work further, please consider donating a treat (no tricks please!) on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves. Your financial support helps with all our production costs.

Links

Behavioral Grooves Twitter: @behavioralgroov

Kurt Nelson Twitter: @motivationguru

Tim Houlihan Twitter: @thoulihan

Common Biases and Heuristics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XHpBr0VFcaT8wIUpr-9zMIb79dFMgOVFRxIZRybiftI/edit

Scary Biases: https://blog.lanterngroup.com/scary-biases

Behavioral Grooves Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Links

Behavioral Grooves Twitter: @behavioralgroov

Kurt Nelson Twitter: @motivationguru

Tim Houlihan Twitter: @thoulihan

Common Biases and Heuristics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XHpBr0VFcaT8wIUpr-9zMIb79dFMgOVFRxIZRybiftI/edit

Scary Biases: https://blog.lanterngroup.com/scary-biases

Behavioral Grooves Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Previous Episode

Why Does Rude Behavior Really Bother Us So Much? | Trevor Foulk PhD

1 Recommendations

Rudeness is contagious, in a similar way to a virus. When experiencing a rude encounter, our brain perceives it like a threat. And once we’ve tuned in to this low-level threat, we’re more likely to notice it around us, and therefore more likely to display rude behavior ourselves.

Our guest on this episode is Dr Trevor Foulk PhD, Assistant Professor of Management & Organization at the University of Maryland. His well published research on deviant workplace behaviors and workplace power dynamics, has been featured in Time magazine, Harvard Business Review, and the Wall Street Journal.

Trevor walks us through what rude behavior actually is, what our evolutionary response to it is and how we can take steps to mitigate the effects of it. We are also delighted to talk about Trevor’s research around the way power changes our behavior, and what impact a feeling of paranoia can add to the dynamics. And to Tim’s delight, Trevor also boosts our understanding of how music affects work performance.

Truth be told, our conversation with Trevor has opened our eyes into how rude behavior really impacts people. And in our Grooving Session, at the end of the episode, Kurt and Tim recap the ways Trevor’s research can improve our lives.

If you enjoy listening to our podcast, you can become an exclusive Behavioral Grooves Patreon member at https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves.

Topics

(3:28) Welcome and speed round

(8:38) How rudeness is contagious.

(11:45) Why do we view rudeness as threatening?

(13:10) The solutions to rudeness.

(15:36) How our response to rudeness differs from holding a grudge.

(17:52) Are certain personality types more susceptible to rudeness?

(19:15) What effect does rudeness have on medical professionals?

(22:59) Can gratitude have the opposite effect to rudeness?

(24:27) How the Anchoring Effect is affected by rudeness.

(28:43) How does a feeling of power change our behavior?

(35:40) Paranoia and power.

(39:51) How does music influence performance?

(47:35) Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim discussing what we’ve learnt from Trevor’s interview.

Links

Dr Trevor Foulk PhD: https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/directory/trevor-foulk

Foulk, T.A., Woolum, A., & Erez, A. (2016). Catching rudeness is like catching a cold: The contagion effects of low-intensity negative behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology: https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Administration/Probation/ResearchInBriefs/RIB_Rudeness_Apr16(1).pdf

Riskin, A. Erez, A., Foulk, T.A., Kugelman, A., Gover, A., Shoris, I, Riskin, K., & Bamberger, P.A. (2015). The impact of rudeness on medical team performance: A randomized trial. Pediatrics: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26260718/

Foulk, T.A., Lanaj, K., Tu, M., Erez, A., & Archambeau, L. (2018) Heavy is the head that wears the crown: An ator-centric approach to psychological power, abusive behavior, and perceived incivility. Academy of Management Journal: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2015.1061

John Bargh: Episode 155. Dante, Coffee and the Unconscious Mind: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/john-bargh-dante-coffee-and-the-unconscious-mind/

John Bargh, Episode 248. Do We Control Situations or Do Situations Control Us? https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/control-situations-with-john-bargh/

Vanessa Bohns, Episode 253. Why You Don‘t Need to be Powerful to be Influential: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/influence-vanessa-bohns/

Musical Links

Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen “This Old Porch”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1xY2pu31h4

Jim Croce “Operator”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw01trwmul0

Rancid “Fall Back Down”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CinJuVtdp3Y

Jimmy Buffett “Margaritaville”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3HBcgxOWAQ

Next Episode

Conspiracy Theories: Hidden Brain‘s Shankar Vedantam | The Delusion of Nations

Host of Hidden Brain podcast, Shankar Vedantam talks with us about the powers: both useful and harmful, of our delusional thinking. Nations are an example of useful delusions; they are an entirely human-made construct, yet they can present us with a unifying, shared identity.

There is a tipping point, however, at which our beliefs can become harmful to someone else. Shankar defines conspiracy theories as a particular type of self deception which can easily escalate into harmful behavior.

Our conversation with Shankar touches on the Capitol Riots in Washington DC on January 6th 2021, and how conspiracy theories influenced the behavior of the rioters.

“ Conspiracy theories, I think are a sort of special case of self deception, which...can easily take over into things that are deeply harmful.”

The challenge most of us face though, is how to talk to our friends and family who believe in conspiracy theories. And on that point, Shankar explains the Illusion Of Explanatory Depth and how conversations with our loved ones need to start with an air of empathy and compassion.

You can listen to our full interview with Shankar Vedantam in Episode 222: How Delusions Can Actually Be Useful: Shankar Vedantam Reveals How: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/shankar-vedantam-useful-delusions/.

This bitesize episode is the introduction to our Conspiracy Theories Series, which will run through the month of November 2021. Over the next few weeks, you will hear from some of the brightest minds in the field of conspiracy theories and science denial. Here is our line up for the month:

Nov 7th, 2021: Lee McIntyre discussing his new book, “How To Talk to A Science Denier.”
Nov 14th, 2021: Andy Norman talking about his new book “Mental Immunity”.
Nov 21st, 2021: Eric Oliver, a political science professor at the University of Chicago who has studied conspiracy theorists for over 20 years.
Nov 28th, 2021: Howard Rankin, describing his new book “I Think Therefore I Am Wrong.”

Subscribe or follow Behavioral Grooves on your podcast player so you don’t miss out on this fascinating series about conspiracy theories.

Links

Subscribe to the Behavioral Grooves Newsletter: https://behavioralgrooves.com/

Write a review of Behavioral Grooves podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/behavioral-grooves-podcast/id1303870112

Behavioral Grooves Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Shankar Vedantam, Episode 222. How Delusions Can Actually Be Useful: Shankar Vedantam Reveals How: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/shankar-vedantam-useful-delusions/

Shankar Vedantam of Hidden Brain: https://hiddenbrain.org/

Shankar Vedantam, “Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain”: https://amzn.to/2PUkzlv