The Illusion of Truth: How Beliefs Are Imposed on Us

Advertising of the same products flashes again and again. Politicians at every step repeat the same thing, although sometimes their statements have nothing to do with the questions asked. Journalists chew on the same opinions day after day. Is repetition so convincing?

As clichéd as it sounds, information is repeated in order to enhance the effect. The effectiveness of this method has been repeatedly confirmed by psychological studies. Repetition is one of the simplest and most common methods of persuasion. It is applied so shamelessly that we forget its powerful influence.

It is enough to repeat any judgment at least once for people to consider it more correct and reliable than what was said for the first time. Moreover, in this case, they are ready to believe even someone who has repeatedly lied before.

By accepting something as truth, we convince ourselves that it is so. According to research, we are more susceptible to the action of promises and assurances that we have heard more than once.

Easy to understand – so true

A phenomenon called the illusion of truth effect occurs in part because familiarity breeds liking. Information that is heard all the time becomes familiar. Everything that is well learned is automatically considered correct – this is how the brain works. Processing already known concepts requires less effort: because it is convenient, we unwittingly believe in it. This is how the principle of cognitive fluency works.

Politicians are well aware that the difference between the imaginary and real truth is almost imperceptible. Creating illusions is much easier, why bother with honesty?

The reverse is also true. People are reluctant to believe things that require careful thought. Of course, such a discovery will sadden those who are trying to convey to others that the world is too complicated for primitive understanding.

Psychologists have tried to check how many times you need to repeat information for maximum effect. It turns out that the highest degree of trust is achieved after three to five repetitions. Then the action begins to lose power and may even cause a negative reaction.

Television ads are much more repetitive, so advertisers use slightly modified versions of ads to grab viewers’ attention. A simple trick avoids an indisputable fact: if acquaintance breeds sympathy, then obsession breeds disgust.

When is it useless to repeat?

Repetition works in almost all cases where people are a little distracted, but as soon as they concentrate and find weak arguments, all efforts come to naught. In other words, no matter how much you repeat doubtful arguments, they do not work for those who listen carefully. But if people are not in the mood to think it over, it is enough to repeat the statement with fervor for the audience to consider it familiar, therefore, convincing.

This means that we must be sane when watching TV commercials or the message will break through the barriers. Although it seems to us that advertising flies by, everything happens exactly the opposite. It is very important to turn on critical thinking, otherwise you will not have time to look back, as you are already humming a tune, quoting key phrases and buying a product.

However, with really strong arguments, the level of audience interest does not play a special role, repetition will still work. Unfortunately, many brilliant ideas hang in the air only because people are embarrassed to repeat them.

How to convince a whole group?

In collective discussions, an interesting phenomenon is also observed. As soon as one member of the group utters his opinion several times, the rest agree that he best expressed the common interests. The loudest voice sounds like the opinion of the majority.

The same psychology works here: the human mind does not catch much difference between the truth and its appearance. The imaginary truth is taken for real, because the brain is used to processing false ideas as completely true.

Information about the human ability to distort rational judgments is depressing, but even more disturbing facts have recently come to light. We can convince ourselves of anything through repetition. As the study showed, any information retrieved from memory seems to be no less reliable than a statement made twice. All convinced skeptics need to be careful with conclusions that come to mind easily and quickly. It is easy to build a stable false belief on a single piece of memory.

Source: spring.org.uk