Forget it. Just forget it.
I got disillusioned with Psychology at university because the psychological models didn’t really reflect myself or anyone I knew. Freud’s Id, Jung’s complexes, Maslow’s hierarchy… they all shed some light on the human psyche, but never felt like the genuine, complete reality.
And so it continued with all of the psychological models that marketing has come up with over the years: we’ve been rats, herds, flocks, swarms, lemmings and cocooners, we have Fast and Slow thinking, on and on. Every model seems to make sense for a few minutes, but then fails to produce consistent, replicable results.
But I don’t think the models were necessarily all that wrong to begin with. What I’ve come to think is that each model actually changes human behaviour.
Ever caught yourself folding your arms in front of someone, then slyly unfolded them? Ever found yourself about to murder your father – and then murdered your mother instead? As soon as we find ourselves conforming to ‘model’ behaviour, we perversely decide to behave differently.
Why? We simply hate being predictable. Maybe it’s because ever since we stepped out onto the savannah, we’ve realised that predators can hunt us down far more easily as soon as they can predict our behaviour. And when we see other people conforming to a psychological model, we feel we have the upper hand in dealing with them. (Aha, look at him mirroring my body language, what if I scratch myself?)
The same goes for when we walk into shops and check out our inboxes: we know we’re prey and we act accordingly. Sure, it’s not great news for pop-marketers who over-simplify the art of persuasion. But it’s a lot more interesting for us creatives.
(Originally appeared at http://foxps.com/uncategorized/humans-category-uncategorizeable/ )
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