Human psychology is complicated, and most of it takes place on the subconscious level. Fortunately for you, there are ways to exploit it. This article will show you 7 awesome psychology tricks that you can use today.
FIGHT RUDENESS WITH POLITENESS
Be it road rage, family quarrel, or any other type of interpersonal altercation, we’ve all had unpleasant interactions with other people at some point in our lives. Often, these situations end up being more than just a courteous disagreement, and both sides start cursing like there’s no tomorrow. Fortunately, I have a little trick for you that will help in such situations: respond to rudeness with politeness.
Say, for example, that you’re walking down the street and accidentally bump into someone. If that someone is ill-mannered, they might try to make a scene out of the whole ordeal. Instead of matching their aggressive tone or awkwardly standing in silence, try giving them a sincere compliment.
What does this achieve? Well, people find it difficult to be mean to someone who’s being nice to them; that’s how our psychology works. So, when you give a sincere compliment to someone who’s being rude to you, they will likely shift their tone and reciprocate your kindness. At worst, they will feel awkward and confused; that will also stop them in their rude tracks.
Just keep in mind that it doesn’t always work. If you crash your mom’s car, a simple “your hair looks great today!” will probably do more harm than good.
STOP WORRYING ABOUT EMBARRASSING MEMORIES
Have you ever been rejected in public? Have you ever called your teacher “mom”? If awkward moments from the past regularly haunt you, this tip is for you.
Whenever an embarrassing memory just doesn’t want to leave you alone, try recalling an awkward situation where someone else was the main culprit. Not so easy, huh? If you use this trick, you will quickly realize how little others think about your embarrassing slip-ups.
Our brains can sometimes be rather self-absorbed, so make sure you look at things from a different perspective from time to time.
MAKE LIES MORE BELIEVABLE
This one’s a bit “sinister.” If you want to get away with a lie, slip in an embarrassing detail about yourself in the middle of your fabrication. This will make people let their guard down and trust you more. After all, if someone’s lying, why would they willingly talk about something they’re ashamed of?
Here’s an example:
Let’s say you forgot about an appointment you had with your friend. When said friend questions you about why you didn’t show up, tell them, for instance, that you puked on a stranger in the park and had to help in the clean-up.
Of course, you can (and should) always tell the truth. But if you really need to lie, this trick will work like a charm. Just don’t tell anyone you got it from me.
SMILE ALL THE TIME
If you want to make other people like you more, all you have to do is smile! Yeah, really, it’s that simple (kinda).
Our brains are very responsive to the emotions of other people. If someone around us is sad, we will likely start feeling a little uneasy. If someone is angry, we might start feeling a tinge of frustration. Fortunately, the same applies to positive feelings, so if someone is happy around us, we will likely share some of that happiness.
By smiling, you’re effectively infecting others with a bit of subconscious joy. This will make people automatically assume a more positive attitude towards you. Do you want that store assistant to help you find the book you’re looking for? Smile! Do you want your friend to do you a favor? Smile! Do you want to get a better grade for a class presentation? Smile! And so on, and so on; you get the gist.
This is way more effective than you think, but you have to remember that your smile needs to be genuine. Our brains are very good at spotting insincere emotions, after all.
ASK FOR SMALL FAVORS
Another trick to get people to like you: ask them for small favors.
Wait, what? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Aren’t you supposed to be the one doing the favors? Well, no, at least not according to psychologists. Although it’s counterintuitive, asking people for favors will make them like you more.
It’s not exactly clear why this is so effective, but, hey, if it works, it works. Just don’t go overboard with it, and don’t ask your coworker for an unconditional loan of $5000 out of nowhere. Remember, small favors- like lending you a pen or watering your flowers etc.
YAWN TO REVEAL STALKERS
This one’s as cool as it is weird. If you want to catch someone staring at you, simply yawn.
Yup, you read that right. Yawning can reveal both secret admirers and potential stalkers. How? Well, some of you may know that yawning is incredibly contagious. If someone sees you do it, they will most likely feel a strong urge to yawn as well. If you want to learn more about why that is, check out this video from Vsauce.
So, if you think that someone is watching you, simply yawn and see if there are any fellow yawners around. This works particularly well if you suspect that one of your friends/classmates/colleagues secretly likes you.
Of course, it’s best to repeat this trick as many times as possible to get reliable results. Otherwise, you might end up thinking that everyone has a crush on you.
NOD TO MAKE PEOPLE AGREE WITH YOU
Nodding your head may seem like a simple, everyday activity, but it’s actually a powerful psychological tool you can use in nearly all social interactions. Among other things, it can be used to make people more likely to agree with you.
For example, if you are asked to name your strengths at a job interview, slightly nodding your head as you speak will make the recruiter more likely to believe what you’re saying.
If you feel like your convincing skills are lacking, use this trick. It may seem cheap, but it works.
