Motivation myths, confirmation bias, social comparison, and passion for reality TV: Ph. D. in Educational Psychology, Bobby Hoffman talks about what errors of judgment we make when we evaluate others, how this affects our self-esteem, and what traps we can be lured into by bias.
Prejudice is part of human nature. We rely on our biases in many ways - for example, when personal experience works to our advantage and helps us make the right decision or make the right choice. However, bias can also lead to misjudgment, misjudgment and undesirable results. Self-esteem bias, sometimes referred to as “confirmation bias,” “myside bias,” Stanovich 2009, is the tendency to believe that your way of thinking and reasoning is superior to someone else’s methods that are identical or very similar. situations, and the tendency to filter information accordingly. According to Bobby Hoffman, Ph. D. in educational psychology and motivation, the best example of confirmation bias is the “freeway dilemma”. It seems to everyone on the road that the driver who drives faster than him is more reckless and irresponsible, and the one who drives slower does not have enough driving skills or common sense. Such a preconceived point of view often leads to the erroneous conclusion that your driving behavior is absolutely justified and correct, while everyone else behaves incorrectly. But wouldn't it be better in this situation to keep in mind what other drivers think about your speed?But wouldn't it be better in this situation to keep in mind what other drivers think about your speed?But wouldn't it be better in this situation to keep in mind what other drivers think about your speed?
Biased thinking and errors of judgment manifest themselves in many situations. In one of his articles, Hoffman went through the main biases around motivation and relationships. We have highlighted some of them.
There is no such thing as lack of motivation
Have you ever said “he is not motivated” or “she does not show her initiative at all” when describing a spouse, partner, child, student, or colleague? Most likely, even if you didn’t say such words, you, of course, heard them.
When interacting with educators and business leaders, I have often come across the opinion that academic apathy or lack of involvement in the work process indicates a lack of motivation.
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In this case, the bias is the belief that the apparent lack of specific behavior means no motivation at all. However, there is compelling evidence that academic and personal motivation (eg, self-control) is a renewable resource that regenerates just like muscle after exercise; and the statement “lack of motivation” is a convenient formulation that people use to describe someone who thinks and acts differently from themselves.
People are simply motivated by different things, and motivation changes all the time.
Social comparison can undermine performance
We should also stop judging personal success by comparing ourselves to other people we admire or dislike. This type of social comparison is also associated with confirmation bias, which forces us to seek out and remember evidence to support our beliefs by unconsciously filtering out information that is inconsistent with our views, values, and customs. In this case, the bias occurs because the comparison ignores our objective data and forces us to model behavior inherent in another person, or deliberately try to be different from the other person. Social comparison involves the choice of either rising above the opponent, or protecting oneself from worse results and humiliation by avoiding unsuccessful or imperfect results achieved by others. If we want an example of a “top-down” social comparison that confirms confirmation bias, then the US presidential election may well be the case. Regardless of who you support, candidates regularly look for ways to discredit, belittle, and humiliate their opponent. At the same time, each candidate ignores the achievements of his rivals, rarely focusing on what skills are needed to effectively carry out the work of the President of the United States.rarely focusing on what skills are needed to effectively do the job of the President of the United States.rarely focusing on what skills are needed to effectively do the job of the President of the United States.
There are some psychological benefits derived from confirmation bias and person-to-person comparison. In some cases, when we compare ourselves to others, we develop the concept of positive self-perception and strengthen our ego, which protects us from self-doubt, in our capabilities and performance. But personal assessment ⓘ
An assessment in which you compare your present yourself with your past - approx. ed.
can also improve our emotional state, lift our spirits and strengthen our self-esteem. Despite the obvious benefits, comparing yourself to another person actually turns out to be less effective in motivating and performing than comparing yourself to an absolute standard (Pintrich, 1999). When comparison leads to negative self-esteem, a number of problems arise: people are less willing to take risks, cope less well with bad moods, and experience less general well-being (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1993).
Impact on adolescents
Social comparison has a particularly strong effect on adolescents. Problems often develop when comparisons fall short of expectations, especially in non-academic subjects such as music or physical education. In most cases, it is of the utmost importance for adolescents who is chosen as the representative of the school group, assigned to the football team or to the cheerleading team, as this has to do with social status. As a rule, possession of specific skills is secondary to equality and inclusion in the group, as persons selected for important roles are a priori considered to be more competent than others, even though they may lack certain skills or abilities. I know for sure that when I was chosen to play Helena Keller's brother, James, in the school play "The Miracle Worker",it was not because of my stellar ability as a tragic, but probably because no one else passed the audition better and I agreed to show up at rehearsals every day. The benchmarking process is in stark contrast to the “real world”, where there are many job options and choices based on competence and the ability to meet and exceed specific performance standards.
Ironically, preconceived notions can influence the way we judge people in many life-changing, everyday, professional and personal situations. Interpersonal comparisons determine if we are eligible for college (based on SAT score ⓘ
Scholastic Assessment Test is a unified test, the results of which are needed for applicants to enroll in elite US colleges) influence the choice of our social and romantic partners, and often social comparisons determine who gets job offers and who doesn't. The driving force behind social comparison is so great that it has produced an effect colloquially called “big fish, small pond” (Marsh, 1987), according to which people prefer to be an expert among less qualified professionals. Being a big shark in a small fish tank does not guarantee success and in fact can give a person a false sense of competence with an actual lack of skill and ability. However, there can be psychological benefits to being in the “big fish” position. Numerous studies in different cultures and age groups show that when people of the same ability realize that they are in the "low ability group",they experience more positive self-esteem, have higher academic self-esteem, and receive higher grades, in contrast to situations where the same individuals are immersed in more complex and competitive learning environments that require the use of high abilities.
Why do we like reality TV?
While social comparison has potential negative consequences and can distort our self-perception and the assessments of others, there is another phenomenon that has great consequences for the entire society - this is the dominant media phenomenon in the 21st century known as reality TV. While some research suggests that the popularity of reality television is related to feelings of inclusion or personal pleasure in watching characters (Barton, 2013), social comparison motives may be a more plausible explanation for the phenomenon's immense popularity.
What happens when we watch reality TV? Viewers who struggle with positive self-esteem revel in the frustrations, setbacks, and misbehavior of pseudo-celebrities and the images of irritable, selfish social losers that are broadcast on screen. Indeed, research examining viewers' motivations for watching reality TV shows that people watch such shows to escape their daily lives and enjoy watching other people publicly fool themselves (Lundy, Ruth, & Park, 2008). Positive psychological benefits arise from the social comparison of the viewer and the “celebrity,” even though we make comparative and biased judgments about people we hardly know, but are willing to judge and criticize unfoundedly.
Anti-bias strategy
Clearly, my comments are also biased and potentially conflict with your own beliefs and personal worldview. However, research shows that adaptive motivation begins with appropriate argumentation and the elimination of personal bias. A necessary first step towards objectivity is to assess the persuasiveness of arguments based on the merits of objective evidence, and not on comparison with other, historically similar situations, personal experience, conclusions heard somewhere, or with what we would like to believe about ourselves.
