PRIMING PSYCHOLOGY
PRIMING PSYCHOLOGY:
HOW TO GET
PEOPLE TO
DO WHAT
YOU WANT
BY: VANESSA VAN EDWARDS
DWHAT IS PRIMING PSYCHOLOGY?
Do you prime people to be their best selves? Priming psychology
is one of the most underutilized success techniques.
Priming is using a stimulus like a word, image or action to change
someone’s behavior. For example, research has found that we can
prime someone to walk more slowly by having them read words
like cautious or leisurely. Or we can prime someone to be less rude
by having them read words like patient, polite and respectful.
Priming is when we expose someone to something that influences
their behavior later on — without that individual being aware
that the first thing guided their behavior.
HOW DO YOU USE PRIMING?
Priming can be used with a variety of stimuli. Here are the most
common priming sources:
• Words: Having someone read words, unscramble words or
work with words can prime them to act on the meaning of
that word. For example, you reading the word ‘thorough’
should make you read this article more thoroughly = )
• Images: Having someone look at an image, draw an image
or work with an image can prime them for what the image
represents.
• Actions, Items, Videos: You can also prime with real life
objects, actions or videos. If I serve candy in my office, it will
prime you differently than if I serve roast beef.
PRIMING EXAMPLES
There are some great priming examples in psychology. Let’s go
through some great priming science.
Priming People to Be Less Rude
In 1996, researcher John Bargh did an experiment to see if he
could influence behavior with a simple activity. The researchers
had three groups of participants.
1) The first group had the “Rude Condition” and had to
unscramble a list of rude words like bold, aggressive, disturb.
2) The second group, called “Polite Condition” had a series of
polite words like patient, respect and respectful.
3) The last group, the “Neutral Condition”, had words that were
neither polite nor rude.
When a participant was done unscrambling words, they were
instructed to walk down the hallway and tell the researcher they
were finished.
Unbeknownst to them, the researcher would be in a long fake
discussion with another researcher when the participant arrived.
The experiment was to test how long it would take for each group
to interrupt the researcher to tell him that they were done.
Within 10 minutes, 60% of the rude group had interrupted, while
only 40% of the neutral group and 20% of the polite group had
interceded.
This is a very simple experiment, with a very powerful lesson.
It teaches us that people can be subconsciously primed to act
differently.
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