Search

The psychology of retirement: why do so many athletes struggle to call time?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sarah-tillott-1462234">Sarah Tillott</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/diarmuid-hurley-1462235">Diarmuid Hurley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> Think back to when you met someone for the first time. One of the first questions you asked, or were asked, was likely: “what do you do for work?” It’s a polite, innocuous and socially ingrained way of getting to know more about a person. But it also demonstrates the central role of our professional lives as part of our personal identities. For professional athletes, their careers, exploits and recognition can become the defining aspect of their identity. So what happens when sporting careers end? The transition to retirement, across professions and countries, can be extremely tough to navigate. It can be especially difficult for elite sportspeople, who can experience retirement as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029221001679?casa_token=L4g3UTN8T78AAAAA:VHqcgJN7jIpW82cp32TXq9gIcKFzD2jtf6Jc_OX-3fjpHVnowlp0p8fcqE01BVF3Qjx0bmiRz4T1">loss of identity</a>, connected to their sense of achievement, meaning and control in life. <h2>How retirement impacts athletes</h2> A common saying with many sportspeople is “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jannfreed/2024/06/29/athletes-die-twice-retirement-as-a-death/">athletes die twice</a>” – once when they retire and again at their death. Former Wallaby Brendan Cannon <a href="https://www.impact.acu.edu.au/lifestyle/after-the-final-siren-helping-athletes-to-adapt-to-life-after-sport">has spoken of</a> this difficulty: <blockquote> [People] want to talk to you about what you used to be, and all you want to focus on is what you want to become. </blockquote> During the transition to retirement, elite athletes can be affected by how they got into their chosen sport, how long they stayed in the system and the variables that either accelerated or ended their careers. Other factors include whether they played a team or individual sport, male vs female pathways, whether their exit from sport was voluntary or involuntary and their age when retiring. My (Sarah) interviews with former professional athletes demonstrate the complexity of retiring from elite sport. To the public, William Zillman, former NRL star turned vet, seems to have it all together. But it didn’t come without hardship, pain and struggles in navigating the harsh terrain of retirement. When asked about his retirement, Zillman said: “[Being an NRL player was] all I knew.” <blockquote> I turned up to work each day, I was told what to do, how to do it and when to do it […] but when I left the system, I think I lost the ability to think for myself. I went from having all the help in the world to very little – it was tough. </blockquote> Retiring from high-performance sport can have profound effects on an athlete’s <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2020/10000/the_psychological_burden_of_retirement_from_sport.11.aspx/1000">physical and mental health</a>, as well as their social and professional development. While “regular people” usually retire in their 60s or 70s, an athlete’s retirement often occurs earlier, coinciding with crucial phases of career development and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10513329/">family planning</a>. Some have to adjust from being highly paid and highly managed to surviving on minimum wages with very little support. “It’s a recipe for disaster,” Ryan James, who considers himself one of the lucky ones, said. A former forward for the Gold Coast Titans, James has been working closely with the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) with the aim to address some of the complex issues with the transition experience. James knows only too well the struggles some people in the system face as their careers begin to wind down: <blockquote> Many of our players come into the system from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds and while we have made a start, there is more we can be doing. Financial literacy and management is just one avenue we need to tackle. I’ve known too many retired, vulnerable players who were homeless, sleeping in cars with their young families. It’s devastating. </blockquote> It took former English captain turned NRL superstar James Graham a good part of 18 months to re-configure his identity: <blockquote> You come out feeling so lost and alone. Most of your life is spent training, connecting with mates, having a lot of routine and structure to almost nothing. It’s strange and confronting. </blockquote> <h2>What are the major codes doing?</h2> Across various sporting codes there are programs that aim to assist athletes to prepare for retirement. For example, <a href="https://www.rlpa.com.au/past-player-and-transition-program">the RLPA has a program</a> to support athletes who are transitioning. Other major professional Australian codes have similar programs, including <a href="https://www.aflplayers.com.au/app/uploads/2021/10/Player-Retirement-Scheme_Booklet_A5_4.pdf">the AFL</a>, <a href="https://www.thepfa.com/players/union-support/pension-scheme">Professional Footballers Association</a> (soccer) and <a href="https://auscricket.com.au/programs-community/past-player-programs/">cricket</a>. However, whether or not athletes choose to participate in these programs is usually at the discretion of the players. <h2>The importance of planning, preparation and support</h2> One of the key factors influencing how an athlete transitions into life after sport is how much they have <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-just-retiring-athletes-who-need-mental-health-support-young-sportspeople-need-it-too-230296">prepared for it</a>. Research with elite athletes from <a href="https://elevateaus.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-end-of-a-professional-sport-career-ensuring-a-positive-transition.pdf">the AFL, NRL and A-League</a> shows those who planned and prepared for life after sport and who had goals, direction and identities beyond sport, experienced more acceptance, autonomy (control) and optimism about the future. On the other hand, those who were unprepared or did not plan ahead experienced negative emotional and psychological states, and struggled to move on. This negative effect is even more pronounced for those who were forced to <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2020/10000/the_psychological_burden_of_retirement_from_sport.11.aspx/1000">end their career due to injury</a>. <hr /> <iframe id="lQixA" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/lQixA/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <hr /> <h2>How to improve the situation</h2> A recent <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10513329/">scoping review</a> explored the notion of retirement for professional athletes and their ability to adapt to life after sport. It summarised many areas that need more attention: Make athletes aware of what’s ahead Expect that when you leave, it may be hard. Reach out to your club, coach and support services and surround yourself with people who you can talk to and who may be able to help. Athletes should expect that it will take time to adjust, and this adjustment period is crucial for mitigating the adverse effects of retirement. This adjustment period can also significantly reduce the initial negative impacts on their mental and physical health. Tailored support programs Developing tailored support programs that address the specific needs of different sports and athlete sub-groups can help mitigate the challenges associated with retirement. These programs might include career counselling, mental health support and opportunities for continuous involvement in the sports community. A need for further research There is a pressing need for more research to identify effective support mechanisms for retiring athletes. Understanding the types of support that facilitate a smoother transition can help in designing programs and interventions tailored to the unique needs of elite athletes. Additionally, mapping out the factors that aid or hinder the transition across different sports and athlete sub-groups would provide valuable insights.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/234559/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sarah-tillott-1462234">Sarah Tillott</a>, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/diarmuid-hurley-1462235">Diarmuid Hurley</a>, Lecturer, Faculty of Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychology-of-retirement-why-do-so-many-athletes-struggle-to-call-time-234559">original article</a>. </div>

Retirement Life

To-do list got you down? Understanding the psychology of goals can help tick things off – and keep you on track

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-m-caudwell-1258935">Kim M Caudwell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a> It feels like we are living in busy times. According to the <a href="https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/work-life-balance/">OECD Better Life Index</a>, 12.5% of Australians report working at least 50 hours a week, higher than the OECD average. Many Australians are also <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-03/multiple-job-holders-hit-record-high-abs/102679190">working more than one job to buffer against cost-of-living pressures</a>. Psychology has long been interested in our goals – our mental representations of desirable outcomes. Much of this research is on how we form, pursue and attain goals, plus how goals make us feel. Across studies, we see a consistent pattern of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-013-9493-0#Sec34">successful goal pursuit and wellbeing</a>. So, having time to work toward our goals is important. With this in mind, what is the best way to get things done – and how can we get better at achieving our goals, especially when we feel time poor? <h2>Make a list</h2> Most of us approach multiple goals with the age-old “to-do” list. First, you write down everything you need to do. Then you “check” or tick things off as you do them. One reason to-do lists are useful is because we are more likely to remember things we haven’t completed, rather than things we have. This is known as the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-F1U4bV2m8">Zeigarnik effect</a>. While to-do lists are easy to write, they don’t always work. There are however <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/01/i-tried-4-to-do-list-methods-heres-what-worked">various approaches for to-do lists</a> that may improve their effectiveness. Another thing to consider is the wide range of apps, tools and platforms that can make tasks more fun and outsource mental load. Adding elements of game play like point scoring or competition – called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gamification-could-revolutionise-creative-thinking-in-the-workplace-122852">gamification</a>” – can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563221002867">help people work toward goals in educational and work settings</a>. Similarly, app-based reminders can help people reach <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2047487320905717">physical rehabilitation goals and form good exercise habits</a>. <h2>Finding your why</h2> Researchers have focused a lot on the psychology of why people pursue goals – and how this affects their approach to tasks. For example, some people want to complete a university degree because they want to get a job. Others may be more interested in developing skills or knowledge. In both cases, there is a desired outcome – albeit with differing reasons. Our goals can be differentiated by who or what is driving them. Goals that feel like our own, and for which we experience a sense of intrinsic motivation, are known as “self-concordant”. These goals represent enduring personal interests, are aligned with values and are positively <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-020-01156-7">linked to wellbeing</a>. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-006-9012-5">Goal orientation theory</a> offers a similar perspective. Using the same example, you may study so you score well on a test (a performance goal) or because you want to be sure you develop your knowledge (a mastery goal). Mastery goals tend to lead to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-010-9201-6">better results and self-regulation</a>. <h2>Juggling goals – 4 to-do tips</h2> So, what happens when we have multiple – perhaps even competing – goals, or goals that aren’t so enjoyable? We might want to finish writing a report or assignment, then read a few chapters of a textbook – but also go to the gym and binge a few episodes of our favourite TV show. In such scenarios, psychological science offers some insights into how we might stay task-focused, and on track to tick more items off our to-do list. 1. Beware the <a href="https://www.pwc.pl/en/articles/planning-fallacy-part-I-cognitive-traps.html">planning fallacy</a>. This happens when we underestimate the amount of resources (such as time) it will take to reach a goal. As writer and religious thinker William Penn put it: “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”. Think through the all the steps and time required to complete your goal. 2. Monitor your progress. <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/91437/8/3_PDFsam_Does%20monitoring%20goal.pdf">Incorporating goal monitoring</a> into an activity can boost progress. And reviewing your estimations and expectations against your actual times and achievements can be used to calculate a “<a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/estimating-time-for-tasks">fudge ratio</a>” to aid future planning. For instance, you could multiply your expected time on tasks by 1.5 to help buffer against the planning fallacy. 3. Focus on mastery. Self-concordant goals and tasks feel easier, and their underlying tasks may be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0146167215575730">less subject to forgetting</a>. Tedious but necessary goals (such as doing the dishes or filling out forms) are less intrinsically motivating. This means <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EBHRM-04-2014-0013/full/html#idm45933122746592">planning, reminders and support become more important to goal progress</a>. 4. Plan for derailments. People vary in their ability to plan and might forget to take a goal-directed action at an appropriate time (this could be one reason the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-streaming-services-winning-the-battle-for-attention-and-the-feature-australians-want/9crrpafgd">average Australian streams 27 hours of video each week</a>). <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10463283.2024.2334563">Implementation intentions</a> bring our attention back toward our goals by linking them to an environmental marker. These simple “if-then” plans are shown to <a href="https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/brp/research/constructs/implementation-intentions#:%7E:text=Implementation%20intentions%20are%20formed%20for,might%20otherwise%20undermine%20goal%20striving.">help overcome issues with self-regulation</a>. Such a statement might be “if I see the ‘next episode’ icon appear, I will get up and turn off the TV so I can read a chapter of my textbook”. With time being frustratingly finite, it is inevitable we will run out of time to do all of the things on our to-do list. Finding an approach that works for us will take time and effort. But it’s probably a worthy goal in itself.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/230399/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kim-m-caudwell-1258935">Kim M Caudwell</a>, Senior Lecturer - Psychology | Chair, Researchers in Behavioural Addictions, Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-do-list-got-you-down-understanding-the-psychology-of-goals-can-help-tick-things-off-and-keep-you-on-track-230399">original article</a>. </div>

Mind

Why do we love to see unlikely animal friendships? A psychology expert explains

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shane-rogers-575838">Shane Rogers</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> The internet is awash with stories and videos of unlikely animal friendships, often with many millions of views. This content typically shows animals from different species showing affection to one another, signifying a bond or even a “friendship”. These relationships have been captured in people’s homes, such as with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-10/meet-unlikely-friends-peggy-the-dog-and-molly-the-magpie/100447022">Molly the magpie and Peggy the dog</a>, in zoos, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-04/bear-lion-and-tiger-make-an-affectionate,-gentle-family/7222462">such as with</a> Baloo the bear, Leo the lion and Shere Khan the tiger, and even <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BvB0182xag&t=2300s">in the wild</a>, such as one case of <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-cat-friendship_n_4268629">a fox and cat living together</a> in Turkey. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdxU6CpvUgg?wmode=transparent&start=19" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> A plethora of research on <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-66407-w.pdf">primates</a>, <a href="https://blog.mybirdbuddy.com/post/can-birds-form-friendships">birds</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-social-lives-of-kangaroos-are-more-complex-than-we-thought-213770">kangaroos</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/male-dolphins-use-their-individual-names-to-build-a-complex-social-network-97780">dolphins</a>, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/11/191">horses</a>, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/1/126">cats</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05669-y">dogs</a> has shown many non-human animals can develop deep social bonds with their own kind. And while inter-species bonding hasn’t been studied to the same extent, videos like those mentioned above show animals from different species displaying the same affection to each other as they would to their own, such as through cuddling, playing and grooming. Why do we, as people, find these stories so enjoyable? Answering this question requires us to consider some of the nicer aspects of our own nature. <h2>When animals reflect us</h2> Witnessing animals get along well together isn’t just cute, it can also make us feel like we have things in common with other species, and feel more connected with the other life on the planet. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00976/full">Decades of research</a> reveals how feeling connected to nature fosters happiness in humans. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PrJi-P61aLY?wmode=transparent&start=7" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> While the mechanisms behind inter-species bonding are not fully understood, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.994504/full">one 2022 research review</a> suggests the mechanisms that operate in other animals’ brains during social interactions with their own are similar to those that operate in human brains. The researchers suggest that, due to the evolution of common brain mechanisms, animals engaged in social interaction may experience similar emotions to humans who engage with their own friends or loved ones. So while it’s very hard to know what this subjective social experience is like for other animals – after all, they can’t report it on a questionnaire – there’s no reason to think it isn’t similar to our own. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZVMsdz7aZpk?wmode=transparent&start=102" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Humans like co-operation and pleasant surprises</h2> Humans have <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0128">evolved to enjoy co-operation</a>, which might also help explain why we enjoy seeing co-operation between different animal species. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/competition-versus-cooperation:-which-human-instinct-is-stronge/10291360">Some scholars</a> suggest the human instinct for co-operation is even stronger than our instinct for competition. Another reason we may be drawn to unlikely animal friendships is that they are, in fact, so unlikely. These interactions are surprising, and research shows humans <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/neuroscientists-learn-why/">enjoy being surprised</a>. Our brain has <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/239331/study-reveals-human-brains-have-evolved/">evolved to be incredibly efficient</a> at categorising, solving problems and learning. Part of the reason we’re so efficient is because we are motivated to seek new knowledge and question what we think we know. In other words, we’re motivated to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635443/">curious</a>. Inter-species friendships are indeed a very curious thing. They contradict the more common assumption and observation that different species stick with their own kind. We might think “cats eat birds, so they must not like each other”. So when we see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGsN7jzp5DE">a cat and a bird</a> getting along like old pals, this challenges our concept of how the natural world works. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bGsN7jzp5DE?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Neuroscientists have documented that, when surprised, humans experience a release of brain chemicals responsible for making us <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/unexpected-brain-chemistry-is-behind-the-element-of-surprise/">more alert</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627320308539">sensitive to reward</a>. It is this neurochemical reaction that produces the “pleasantness” in the feeling of being pleasantly surprised. <h2>A desire for peace and harmony</h2> Perhaps another explanation for why humans are so intrigued by inter-species friendships is because they feed a human desire for peace and harmony. These connections may be symbolic of what many people yearn for: a world where differences can be put aside in favour of a peaceful co-existence. These friendships might even prompt us to imagine, consciously or subconsciously, a future in which we become more enlightened as a species. One could argue a key reason behind the success of the TV series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANnFNfVuZeM">Star Trek</a> is its <a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/08/star-trek-solidarity-utopianism-technology-postcapitalism">optimistic take on the future of humanity</a>. Inter-species co-operation is a central theme of the show. Inter-species friendships may serve as a concrete example of breaking free of the “natural” way of being for a more peaceful way of being. And while it might only be a dream, it’s nice to watch cute animal videos that help us feel like this dream might be possible.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/230548/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_BvB0182xag?wmode=transparent&start=1880" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shane-rogers-575838">Shane Rogers</a>, Lecturer in Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-love-to-see-unlikely-animal-friendships-a-psychology-expert-explains-230548">original article</a>. </div>

Family & Pets

What ‘psychological warfare’ tactics do scammers use, and how can you protect yourself?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mike-johnstone-106590">Mike Johnstone</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/georgia-psaroulis-1513050">Georgia Psaroulis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> Not a day goes by without a headline <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjvaym/people-share-worst-scam-stories">about a victim being scammed</a> and losing money. We are constantly warned about new scams and staying safe from cybercriminals. Scamwatch has <a href="https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/research-and-resources/tools-resources/online-resources/spot-the-scam-signs">no shortage of resources</a>, too. So why are people still getting scammed, and sometimes spectacularly so? Scammers use sophisticated psychological techniques. They exploit our deepest human vulnerabilities and bypass rational thought to tap into our emotional responses. This “<a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html">psychological warfare</a>” coerces victims into making impulsive decisions. Sometimes scammers spread their methods around many potential victims to see who is vulnerable. Other times, criminals focus on a specific person. Let’s unpack some of these psychological techniques, and how you can defend against them. <h2>1. Random phone calls</h2> Scammers start with small requests to establish a sense of commitment. After agreeing to these minor requests, we are more likely to comply with larger demands, driven by a desire to act consistently. The call won’t come from a number in your contacts or one you recognise, but the scammer may pretend to be someone you’ve engaged to work on your house, or perhaps one of your children using a friend’s phone to call you. If it is a scammer, maybe keeping you on the phone for a long time gives them an opportunity to find out things about you or people you know. They can use this info either immediately or at a later date. <h2>2. Creating a sense of urgency</h2> Scammers fabricate scenarios that require immediate action, like claiming a bank account is at risk of closure or an offer is about to expire. This tactic aims to prevent victims from assessing the situation logically or seeking advice, pressuring them into rushed decisions. The scammer creates an artificial situation in which you are frightened into doing something you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Scam calls <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-filed-a-case-under-your-name-beware-of-tax-scams-theyll-be-everywhere-this-eofy-162171">alleging to be from the Australian Tax Office</a> (ATO) are a great example. You have a debt to pay (apparently) and things will go badly if you don’t pay right now. Scammers play on your emotions to provoke reactions that cloud judgement. They may threaten legal trouble to instil fear, promise high investment returns to exploit greed, or share fabricated distressing stories to elicit sympathy and financial assistance. <h2>3. Building rapport with casual talk</h2> Through extended conversation, scammers build a psychological commitment to their scheme. No one gets very far by just demanding your password, but it’s natural to be friendly with people who are friendly towards us. After staying on the line for long periods of time, the victim also becomes cognitively fatigued. This not only makes the victim more open to suggestions, but also isolates them from friends or family who might recognise and counteract the scam. <h2>4. Help me to help you</h2> In this case, the scammer creates a situation where they help you to solve a real or imaginary problem (that they actually created). They work their “IT magic” and the problem goes away. Later, they ask you for something you wouldn’t normally do, and you do it because of the “social debt”: they helped you first. For example, a hacker might attack a corporate network, causing it to slow down. Then they call you, pretending to be from your organisation, perhaps as a recent hire not yet on the company’s contact list. They “help” you by turning off the attack, leaving you suitably grateful. Perhaps a week later, they call again and ask for sensitive information, such as the CEO’s password. You know company policy is to not divulge it, but the scammer will ask if you remember them (of course you do) and come up with an excuse for why they really need this password. The balance of the social debt says you will help them. <h2>5. Appealing to authority</h2> By posing as line managers, officials from government agencies, banks, or other authoritative bodies, scammers exploit our natural tendency to obey authority. Such scams operate at varying levels of sophistication. The simple version: your manager messages you with an urgent request to purchase some gift cards and send through their numbers. The complex version: your manager calls and asks to urgently transfer a large sum of money to an account you don’t recognise. You do this because <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fraudsters-use-ai-to-mimic-ceos-voice-in-unusual-cybercrime-case-11567157402">it sounds exactly</a> like your manager on the phone – but the scammer <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/10/14/huge-bank-fraud-uses-deep-fake-voice-tech-to-steal-millions/?sh=1329b80e7559">is using a voice deepfake</a>. In a recent major case in Hong Kong, such a scam even involved a <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/04/asia/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html">deepfake video call</a>. This is deeply challenging because artificial intelligence tools, such as Microsoft’s VALL-E, can create <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/microsofts-new-ai-can-simulate-anyones-voice-with-3-seconds-of-audio/">a voice deepfake</a> using just three seconds of sampled audio from a real person. <h2>How can you defend against a scam?</h2> First and foremost, verify identity. Find another way to contact the person to verify who they are. For example, you can call a generic number for the business and ask to be connected. In the face of rampant voice deepfakes, it can be helpful to agree on a “safe word” with your family members. If they call from an unrecognised number and you don’t hear the safe word just hang up. Watch out for pressure tactics. If the conversation is moving too fast, remember that someone else’s problem is not yours to solve. Stop and run the problem past a colleague or family member for a sanity check. A legitimate business will have no problem with you doing this. Lastly, if you are not sure about even the slightest detail, the simplest thing is to hang up or not respond. If you really owe a tax debt, the ATO will write to you.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223959/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mike-johnstone-106590">Mike Johnstone</a>, Security Researcher, Associate Professor in Resilient Systems, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/georgia-psaroulis-1513050">Georgia Psaroulis</a>, Postdoctoral research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-psychological-warfare-tactics-do-scammers-use-and-how-can-you-protect-yourself-223959">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

How ‘dad jokes’ may prepare your kids for a lifetime of embarrassment, according to psychology

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shane-rogers-575838">Shane Rogers</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marc-hye-knudsen-1466723">Marc Hye-Knudsen</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/aarhus-university-967">Aarhus University</a> This Father’s Day you may be rolling out your best “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dad%20joke">dad jokes</a>” and watching your children laugh (or groan). Maybe you’ll hear your own father, partner or friend crack a dad joke or two. You know the ones: "What is the most condescending animal? A pan-DUH!" "Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!" Yes, dad jokes can be fun. They play an important role in how we interact with our kids. But dad jokes may also help prepare them to handle embarrassment later in life. <h2>What are dad jokes?</h2> Dad jokes are a distinct style of humour consisting of puns that are simple, wholesome and often involve a cheesy delivery. These jokes usually feature obvious wordplay and a straightforward punchline that leaves listeners either chuckling or emitting an exaggerated groan. This corny brand of humour is popular. There are hundreds of <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a34437277/best-dad-jokes/">websites</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAgYiERRDPY&t=248s">YouTube videos</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mmmjoemele/video/7207443872232770858">TikToks</a> dedicated to them. You can even play around with <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/us/dad-joke-generator-trnd/">dad joke generators</a> if you need some inspiration. <h2>Why are dad jokes so popular?</h2> People seem to love dad jokes, partly because of the puns. A <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0191886922005025">study</a> published earlier this year found people enjoy puns more than most other types of jokes. The authors also suggested that if you groan in response to a pun, this can be a sign you enjoy the joke, rather than find it displeasing. Other research shows dad jokes work on at least <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.26613/esic.5.2.248/html">three levels</a>: 1. As tame puns Humour typically <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797610376073">violates</a> a kind of boundary. At the most basic level, dad jokes only violate <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315731162-7/puns-tacit-linguistic-knowledge-debra-aarons">a language norm</a>. They require specific knowledge of the language to “get” them, in a way a fart joke does not. The fact that dad jokes are wholesome and inoffensive means dads can tell them around their children. But this also potentially makes them tame, which other people might call unfunny. 2. As anti-humour Telling someone a pun that’s too tame to deserve being told out loud is itself a violation of the norms of joke-telling. That violation can in turn make a dad joke funny. In other words, a dad joke can be so unfunny this makes it funny – a type of <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-dubious-art-of-the-dad-joke/">anti-humour</a>. 3. As weaponised anti-humour Sometimes, the purpose of a dad joke is not to make people laugh but to make them groan and roll their eyes. When people tell dad jokes to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.127.2.229">teasingly</a> annoy someone else for fun, dad jokes work as a kind of <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.26613/esic.5.2.248/html">weaponised</a> anti-humour. The stereotypical scenario associated with dad jokes is exactly this: a dad telling a pun and then his kids rolling their eyes out of annoyance or cringing from embarrassment. <h2>Dad jokes help dads be dads</h2> Dad jokes are part of a father’s toolkit for engaging with his loved ones, a way to connect through laughter. But as children grow older, the way they receive puns change. <a href="https://psychcentral.com/lib/humor-as-a-key-to-child-development#1">Children</a> at around six years old enjoy hearing and telling puns. These are generally innocent ones such as: "Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine!" As children age and their language and reasoning abilities develop, their understanding of humour becomes more complex. In adolescence, they may start to view puns as unfunny. This, however, doesn’t stop their fathers from telling them. Instead, fathers can revel in the embarrassment their dad jokes can produce around their image-conscious and <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/202203/adolescence-and-the-age-painful-embarrassment">sensitive</a> adolescent children. In fact, in a study, one of us (Marc) <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.26613/esic.5.2.248/html">suggests</a> the playful teasing that comes with dad jokes may be partly why they are such a widespread cultural phenomenon. This playful and safe teasing serves a dual role in father-child bonding in adolescence. Not only is it playful and fun, it can also be used to help <a href="https://www.dadsuggests.com/home/the-best-dad-jokes">educate</a> the young person how to handle feeling embarrassed. Helping children learn how to deal with embarrassment is no laughing matter. Getting better at this is a very important part of learning how to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01650250143000535">regulate emotions</a> and develop <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.980104/full">resilience</a>. Modelling the use of humour also has benefits. Jokes can be a useful <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-019-00296-9">coping strategy</a> during <a href="https://psychcentral.com/lib/humor-as-weapon-shield-and-psychological-salve">awkward situations</a> – for instance, after someone says <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuRnsrHEQFg">something awkward</a> or to make someone laugh who has <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/managing-conflicts-with-humor.htm">become upset</a>. <h2>Dad jokes are more than punchlines</h2> So, the next time you hear your father unleash a cringe-worthy dad joke, remember it’s not just about the punchline. It’s about creating connections and lightening the mood. So go ahead, let out that groan, and share a smile with the one who proudly delivers the dad jokes. It’s all part of the fun.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212109/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shane-rogers-575838">Shane Rogers</a>, Lecturer in Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marc-hye-knudsen-1466723">Marc Hye-Knudsen</a>, Cognition and Behavior Lab, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/aarhus-university-967">Aarhus University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dad-jokes-may-prepare-your-kids-for-a-lifetime-of-embarrassment-according-to-psychology-212109">original article</a>.

Family & Pets

‘Psychological debriefing’ right after an accident or trauma can do more harm than good – here’s why

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-bryant-161">Richard Bryant</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> The recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-18/hunter-valley-wedding-bus-crash-survivors-remain-in-hospital/102487630">tragic bus accident</a> in the New South Wales Hunter Valley has again raised the issue of how we address the potential psychological effects of traumatic events. It is interesting we revisit the same debate after each disaster, and few lessons have apparently been learned after decades of research. After the Hunter Valley accident, immediate psychological counselling was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/15/hunter-valley-bus-crash-company-issued-with-defect-notices-after-police-raid">offered to those affected</a>. While we can’t say what form of counselling was offered, the traditional approach is known as “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118833/">psychological debriefing</a>”. This typically involves counsellors providing trauma survivors with a single counselling intervention within days of the event. Although the content of the intervention can vary, it usually involves education about stress reactions, encouragement to disclose their memories of the experience, some basic stress-coping strategies and possibly referral information. But the evidence shows this approach, however well-meaning, may not help – or worse, do harm. <h2>The belief that feelings must be shared</h2> The encouragement of people to discuss their emotional reactions to a trauma is the result of a long-held notion in psychology (dating back to the classic writings of Sigmund Freud) that disclosure of one’s emotions is invariably beneficial for one’s mental health. Emanating from this perspective, the impetus for psychological debriefing has traditionally been rooted in the notion trauma survivors are vulnerable to psychological disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), if they do not “talk through their trauma” by receiving this very <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1529100610387086">early intervention</a>. The scenario of trauma counsellors appearing in the acute aftermath of traumatic events has been commonplace for decades in Australia and elsewhere. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City in 2001, up to 9,000 counsellors were mobilised and more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/22/nyregion/finding-cure-for-hearts-broken-sept-11-is-as-difficult-as-explaining-the-cost.html">US$200 million</a> was projected to meet a surge in mental health needs. But fewer people than expected sought help under this program and $90 million remained <a href="https://theconversation.com/9-11-anniversary-a-watershed-for-psychological-response-to-disasters-2975">unspent</a>. <h2>What do we know about psychological reactions to disasters?</h2> The overwhelming evidence indicates the majority of people will <a href="http://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/journals/pspi/weighing-the-costs-of-disaster.html">adapt</a> to traumatic events without any psychological intervention. Long-term studies indicate approximately 75% of trauma survivors will not experience any long-term distress. Others will experience short-term distress and subsequently adapt. A minority (usually about 10%) will <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100610387086">experience chronic psychological problems</a>. This last group are the ones who require care and attention to reduce their mental health problems. Experts now agree other trauma survivors can rely on their own <a href="https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/problems-disorders/coping-after-a-traumatic-event">coping resources and social networks</a> to adapt to their traumatic experience. The finding across many studies that most people adapt to traumatic experiences <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100610387086">without formal mental health interventions</a> has been a major impetus for questioning the value of psychological debriefing in the immediate aftermath of disasters. In short, the evidence tells us universal interventions – such as psychological debriefing for everyone involved in a disaster – that attempt to prevent PTSD and other psychological disorders in trauma survivors are not indicated. These attempts <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100610387086#bibr448-1529100610387086">do not prevent</a> the disorder they are targeting. <h2>Not a new conclusion</h2> In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the World Health Organization listed a warning (which <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/treatment-care/mental-health-gap-action-programme/evidence-centre/other-significant-emotional-and-medical-unexplained-somatic-complaints/psychological-debriefing-in-people-exposed-to-a-recent-traumatic-event">still stands</a>) that people should not be given single-session psychological debriefing because it is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100610387086#bibr448-1529100610387086">not supported</a> by evidence. Worse than merely being ineffective, debriefing can be <a href="https://www.jenonline.org/article/S0099-1767(19)30453-2/fulltext#:%7E:text=It%20is%20for%20these%20reasons,%2C%20anxiety%20or%20depressive%20symptoms.%E2%80%9D">harmful for some people</a> and may increase the risk of PTSD. The group of trauma survivors that are most vulnerable to the toxic effects of debriefing are those who are more distressed in the acute phase right after the trauma. This group of people have worse mental health outcomes if they are provided with early debriefing. This may be because their trauma memories are over-consolidated as a result of the emotional disclosure so shortly after the event, when <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181836/#:%7E:text=Brain%20areas%20implicated%20in%20the,norepinephrine%20responses%20to%20subsequent%20stressors.">stress hormones</a> are still highly active. In normal clinical practice a person would be assessed in terms of their suitability for any psychological intervention. But in the case of universal psychological debriefing there is no prior assessment. Therefore, there’s no assessment of the risks the intervention may pose for the person. <h2>Replacing debriefing</h2> Most international bodies have shifted away from psychological debriefing. Early intervention might now be offered as “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/psychological-first-aid">psychological first aid</a>”. This newer approach is meant to provide <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241548205">fundamental support and coping strategies</a> to help the person manage the immediate aftermath of adversity. One of the most important differences between psychological first aid and psychological debriefing is that it does not encourage people to disclose their emotional responses to the trauma. But despite the increasing popularity of psychological first aid, it is difficult to assess its effectiveness as it does not explicitly aim to prevent a disorder, such as PTSD. <h2>Wanting to help</h2> So if there is so much evidence, why do we keep having this debate about the optimal way to assist psychological adaptation after disasters? Perhaps it’s because it’s human nature to want to help. The evidence suggests we should monitor the most vulnerable people and target resources towards them when they need it – usually some weeks or months later when the dust of the trauma has settled. Counsellors might want to promote their activities in the acute phase after disasters, but it may not be in the best interest of the trauma survivors. In short, we need to develop better strategies to ensure we are meeting the needs of the survivors, rather than the counsellors. <hr /> If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208139/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-bryant-161">Richard Bryant</a>, Professor & Director of Traumatic Stress Clinic, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychological-debriefing-right-after-an-accident-or-trauma-can-do-more-harm-than-good-heres-why-208139">original article</a>.

Caring

How scammers use psychology to create some of the most convincing internet cons – and what to watch out for

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stacey-wood-473147">Stacey Wood</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/scripps-college-2153">Scripps College</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yaniv-hanoch-1341108">Yaniv Hanoch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southampton-1093">University of Southampton</a> <a href="https://www.experian.co.uk/blogs/latest-thinking/fraud-prevention/cybercrime-fraud-most-common-crime-uk/">Online fraud is today’s most common crime</a>. Victims are often told they are foolish for falling for it, but fraudsters use psychological mechanisms to infiltrate the defences of their targets, regardless of how intelligent they are. So it’s important to keep up with the latest scams and understand how they work. Recently, consumer protection magazine Which? <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/the-4-most-convincing-scams-weve-seen-in-2023-so-far-a7bRP9s0KJvG">identified some of the most convincing scams of 2023</a>. These scams all have one thing in common – they insidiously take advantage of people’s cognitive biases and psychological blind spots. They included “pig butchering” a way of fattening up victims with affection, the missing person scam which involves posting fake content on social media pages, the traditional PayPal scam, and a new scam called the “fake app alert” in which malware is hidden on apps that look legitimate. <h2>Pig butchering</h2> In our work as fraud psychology researchers we have noticed a trend towards hybrid scams, which combine different types of fraud. Hybrid scams often involve crypto investments and <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fraud-crisis/202210/new-scams-committed-forced-trafficked-labor">sometimes use trafficked labour</a> In the US alone, <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/springfield/news/internet-crime-complaint-center-releases-2022-statistics">the FBI recently reported</a> that people lost US $3.3 billion (£2.6 billion) in 2023 to investment fraud. Pig butchering is a long-term deception. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/02/pig-butchering-scammers-make-billions-convincing-victims-of-love.html">This type of scam</a> combines elements of <a href="https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/romance-scams">romance scams</a> with an investment con. The name comes from the strategy of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/may/22/dating-cons-and-dodgy-apps-among-most-common-scams-says-uk-watchdog">“fattening up” a victim with affection before slaughter</a>. It will usually begin with <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/policy-and-insight/article/pig-butchering-among-most-convincing-scams-of-2023-so-far-which-warns-aDRtr4I1UT1R">standard scam approach like a text</a>, social media message, or an introduction at a job board site. Victims may have their guard up at first. However, these scams can unfold over months, with the scammer slowly gaining the victims’ trust and initiating a romantic relationship all the while learning about their vulnerabilities. For example, details of their financial situation, job stresses, and dreams about the life they want. Romance scammers often saturate their targets with affection and almost constant contact. Pig butchering sometimes involves several trafficked people working as a team to create a single persona. Once the victim depends on the scammer for their emotional connection, the scammer introduces the idea of making an investment and uses fake crypto platforms to demonstrate returns. The scammers may use legitimate sounding cryptocoins and platforms. Victims can invest and “see” strong returns online. In reality, their money is going directly to the scammer. Once a victim transfers a substantial amount of money to the con artist, they are less likely to pull out. This phenomenon is known as the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0749597885900494">“sunk cost fallacy”</a>. Research has shown people are likely to carry on investing money, time and effort in activities they have already invested in and ignore signs the endeavour isn’t in their best interests. When the victim runs out of money or tries to withdraw funds, they are blocked. The victim is left with not only financial devastation, but also the loss of what they may imagine to be their most intimate partnership. They are often <a href="https://cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/6/2021/12/VC-Who-Suffers-Fraud-Report-1.pdf">too embarrassed to discuss the experience</a> with friends and family or to report to the police. <h2>PayPal scams</h2> Fake payment requests are a common attack that works by volume rather than playing the long game. Payment requests appear to come from a genuine PayPal address. Fraudulent messages typically begin with a generic greeting, an urgent request and a fake link. For example, Dear User: You’ve received a payment, or you have paid too much. Please click link below for details. Users are directed to a spoofed website with a legitimate sounding name such as www.paypal.com/SpecialOffers and asked to enter their account information and password. Both of us have received these scam requests – and even we found them difficult to discern from legitimate PayPal request emails. These scams work through mimicry and play on the human tendency to trust authority. Legitimate PayPal correspondence is usually automatic bot language, so it is not difficult to imitate. But remember, genuine messages from PayPal <a href="https://www.paypal.com/ca/for-you/account/security/fraud-dangers#:%7E:text=Any%20email%20from%20PayPal%20will,bank%20account%2C%20or%20credit%20card.">will use your first and last name</a>. <h2>The missing person scam</h2> This seems to be a new scam that exploits a person’s kindness. In the past, charity scams involved posing as charitable organisation responding to a <a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/charity.html">recent, real calamity</a>. The new missing person scam is more sophisticated. The initial plea is a <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/20875699/facebook-fake-missing-child-scam-warning/">fake missing person post</a> that generates likes and shares, increasing its credibility and exposure. Then the fraudster edits the content to create an investment scheme which now has the veneer of legitimacy. This scam may work because the initial consumers are unaware that the content is fraudulent, and there is no obvious request. In psychology, this type of persuasion is known as “<a href="https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/social-proof">social proof</a>” – the tendency of individuals to follow and copy behaviour of others. <h2>Fake app alerts</h2> People post mobile apps, designed to steal users’ personal information, on the Google Play or Apple app store. The app often has a <a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/another-person-comes-forward-after-banking-app-scam-3584340">legitimate function</a>, which gives it a cover. Consumers unknowingly jeopardise their private information by downloading these apps which use malware to access additional information. Although there has been <a href="https://tech.co/news/fake-android-apps-delete">media coverage of Android security issues</a>, many users assume malware <a href="https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2020/8/18/app-stores">cannot bypass app store screening</a>. Again, this scam plays on people’s <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0021-9010.92.3.639">trust in authority figures</a> to keep tjem safe. Discuss any investment opportunities with friends, family members or professionals. It’s much easier said than done, but exercising caution one of the best strategies to reduce the chance of becoming a fraud victim. Scammers count on people paying little to no attention to their emails or messages before clicking on them or providing valuable information. When it comes to scams, the devil is in the missing details.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207759/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stacey-wood-473147">Stacey Wood</a>, Professor of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/scripps-college-2153">Scripps College</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yaniv-hanoch-1341108">Yaniv Hanoch</a>, Professor in Decision Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southampton-1093">University of Southampton</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-scammers-use-psychology-to-create-some-of-the-most-convincing-internet-cons-and-what-to-watch-out-for-207759">original article</a>.

Technology

Why do musicians like Elton John find retirement so tough? A music psychology expert explains

With his <a href="https://www.eltonjohn.com/stories/farewell-yellow-brick-road">Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour</a>, Elton John confirmed his latest plans for retirement. The final show of the tour in July 2023 will be his last. However, deja vu suggests this might not be the last we see of Elton. The singer has announced plans to retire <a href="https://www.musictimes.com/articles/8902/20140817/elton-john-career-false-retirements-brief-chronological-look.htm">at least five times</a> since 1984 but is still going strong. By the end of his current tour, Elton John will have performed in over 300 concerts in the UK, the US and Europe and he shows no sign of slowing down. He’ll perform a <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/elton-john-final-uk-show-glastonbury-festival-1235180982/">headline slot at Glastonbury</a> in 2023. Elton is not the only performer with a history of retiring and unretiring. He is in good company with <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=113477&page=1">Barbra Streisand</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/justinbieber/status/415683404462436352?lang=en">Justin Bieber</a>, <a href="https://www.revolt.tv/article/2022-07-14/180311/jay-z-explains-2003-retirement-i-thought-i-was-burned-out/">Jay-Z</a>, <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/lily-allen-hints-she-may-not-retire-just-yet-after-olivia-rodrigo-glastonbury-performance-3258600">Lily Allen</a> and <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/phil-collins-retired/">Phil Collins</a>. Hip-hop star <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/02/04/Nicki-Minaj-returns-music-new-single-Do-We-Have-Problem/9811643982091/">Nicki Minaj’s</a> retirement lasted for only 22 days, while heavy metal singer <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ozzy-osbourne-retirement-1992/">Ozzy Osbourne’s</a> valedictory No More Tours tour in 1992 preceded a further 30 years of performance. In contrast with handsomely rewarded performances on the global stage, retirement can be an intermittent pipe dream for many musicians. Long, unsociable hours in the music industry often offer modest remuneration and few of the perks available in other sectors. There is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/working-retirement-pension-age">no compulsory retirement age</a> in the UK, which can be a godsend for lower paid professional performers who find that saving for an adequate pension is beyond their means. In these cases, working <a href="https://theconversation.com/ageing-activism-why-we-need-to-give-voice-to-the-new-third-age-50305">beyond the third age</a> is a necessity. For Elton and his internationally acclaimed peers, however, the incentive to return to performing is less likely to be financial. So why do some successful musicians find it so hard to stick to retirement? <h2>The motivation of the stage</h2> The key to understanding this lies in motivation. For many musicians, the motivation to perform is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. Extrinsically motivated performers are interested in tangible rewards such as money. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0305735617721637">Intrinsic motivation</a> meanwhile, is present when a musician performs mainly because of a strong inner desire to make music. For intrinsically motivated performers, making music is inherently pleasurable and a means unto itself. This partly explains why the music profession remains attractive even if it does not always bring the financial security of other careers. It also explains why some celebrated performers find it difficult to stay out of the public arena. Among those with a passion for music, the rewards of performance often exceed the financial benefits. The status and accolades derived from a celebrated performance career provide a source of affirmation which can become difficult to obtain elsewhere. Once human beings have fulfilled their basic needs of food, water, shelter and relationships, <a href="http://eznow7jgmenpjz.pic3.eznetonline.com/upload/MASLOW_YQfG.pdf">self-actualisation</a> becomes a significant driving force. For dedicated performers, achievement in the musical sphere can become an irreplaceable vehicle for attaining self esteem, personal growth and the satisfaction of fulfilling their potential. <h2>You’re only as good as your last performance</h2> Identity is also a central component in the motivation to perform. Continuing to perform professionally <a href="https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/fbc3b0a7fd80bcb648344f9d298414ece784f56ff9018d267fd77a7fce70a980/519636/Gross%20%26%20Musgrave%20%282017%29%20Can%20Muic%20Make%20You%20Sick%20Pt2.pdf">can provide validation</a> for musicians, regardless of the level of income and recognition. For many, being a musician is inextricably linked with their sense of self. Their self worth is then strongly affected by their capacity to perform. This is especially true for singers, as voice is an integral part of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane-Oakland/publication/258173213_Re-defining_'Me'_Exploring_career_transition_and_the_experience_of_loss_in_the_context_of_redundancy_for_professional_opera_choristers/links/00b7d52d6675946763000000/Re-defining-Me-Exploring-career-transition-and-the-experience-of-loss-in-the-context-of-redundancy-for-professional-opera-choristers.pdf">identity formation and expression</a>. There is some truth in the old saying; “You’re only as good as your last performance.” If you’re not performing at all, how good can you be? For retired musicians, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane-Oakland/publication/280067238_AGEING_AND_RETIREMENT_TOWARDS_AN_UNDERSTANDING_OF_THE_EXPERIENCES_OF_SYMPHONY_MUSICIANS_AS_THEY_APPROACH_RETIREMENT/links/55a640e008aee8aaa765644b/AGEING-AND-RETIREMENT-TOWARDS-AN-UNDERSTANDING-OF-THE-EXPERIENCES-OF-SYMPHONY-MUSICIANS-AS-THEY-APPROACH-RETIREMENT.pdf">it can be challenging</a> to find a comparable way to channel the energy they once dedicated to performance. Musicians, like other professional groups, are diverse in many ways, but there are some personality traits different types of musicians tend to share. For example, classical musicians typically score highly on introversion, which partly accounts for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03057356810090010201">their ability to focus</a> on the solitary practice necessary for developing technique before engaging in ensemble playing. In contrast, rock and pop musicians tend to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/0305735694222006">score highly</a> on extroversion, often learning and rehearsing more informally in collaboration with their peers. Extroverted performers often derive their energy from audience interaction so it can be difficult to achieve that “buzz” once the music stops. <h2>Don’t stop me now</h2> Performing music is <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00906/full">widely recognised</a> as a way of achieving the highly desired state of “flow”, otherwise known as “peak performance” or being “in the zone”. Providing that the challenge of performing closely matches the skill level of the performer, <a href="https://nuovoeutile.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2002-Flow.pdf">music can become an all-absorbing activity</a>, which is so immersive that it distorts our sense of time and distracts us from our everyday concerns. During live concerts, the audience and performers can experience a sense of <a href="https://sociologicalscience.com/download/vol-6/january/SocSci_v6_27to42.pdf">“collective effervescence”</a> rarely achieved elsewhere. Add in the emotional high derived from the adrenaline released in public performance and we can begin to understand why the rewards of performance can be difficult to replace in retirement. Rihanna’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8jh9QYfEs">Don’t Stop the Music</a>, Queen’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM">Don’t Stop Me Now</a> and Elton’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s">I’m Still Standing</a> are these musicians ways of telling us that they want to be in the limelight, just as much as their audiences want them to stay there. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-musicians-like-elton-john-find-retirement-so-tough-a-music-psychology-expert-explains-197362" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

Spending too much money? Tempted by sales? These ways to ‘hack’ your psychology can help

It’s late November, which means the holiday sales period has well and truly begun. If you haven’t already seen your spending go up, the possibility is looming. And you probably have some concerns about spending your money wisely. Furthermore, shopping can be a harrowing experience, and our attitudes towards money are tied up in all kinds of feelings. Based on psychology, here are three tips to improve the way you spend your hard-earned cash this holiday season. Before the purchase – patience is your friend One of the amazing features of the human mind is that we can mentally time travel: we can imagine what the future is going to feel like. Scientists call this “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(03)01006-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affective forecasting</a>”. Thinking about a future trip – imagining the warm sun, the sand between your toes, finding yourself smiling – is an example of such mental time travel. However, it turns out <a href="https://www.bauer.uh.edu/vpatrick/docs/Looking%20Through%20the%20Crystal%20Ball.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we’re not very good at affective forecasting</a>. We get wrong not only the emotions we will experience, but also their intensity and duration. Lottery winners are a classic example – contrary to expectations, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.36.8.917" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many are not happy</a>, or not happy for long. More importantly, you can derive happiness from just anticipating future experiences. For example, one study measured the happiness of 974 people going on a trip compared with 556 people not going on a trip. As you might expect, the vacationers were relatively happier – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11482-009-9091-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">but only before the trip</a>. So, how can we take advantage of our capacity to mentally time travel? Tip #1: Pay now, consume later. These days, fuelled by the rise of “buy now, pay later” options, we get to consume what we want immediately. However, this instant gratification deprives us of a key source of happiness: anticipation. A better strategy is to commit to buy something and then wait a little before actually consuming it. At the point of purchase – notice you’re paying An inevitability of every purchase is spending money. This represents a cost, both in terms of the monetary value but also the opportunity to buy other things. Costs are a form of loss, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.39.4.341" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we don’t like losing things</a>. For that reason, it psychologically hurts to spend money. Scientists call this the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.17.1.4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pain of paying</a>”. According to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00151" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one theory of shopping</a>, we decide to buy after making a mental calculation: is the anticipated pleasure of consuming higher than the anticipated pain of buying? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.neuron.2006.11.010" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This calculus</a> is even represented in the brain. For example, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2901808" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one study</a> looking at people’s brains with fMRI while they purchased food found neural activity in areas linked to higher-order, affective pain processing, which correlated with how high the price was. How did you pay for your last meal? Did you have to dig into your wallet or purse trying to extract the appropriate combination of notes and coins? Maybe you simply pulled out a plastic card and swiped it on the reader? Or perhaps you absentmindedly touched your smartphone to the machine. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496420/original/file-20221121-14-8dpx7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A person holding up their smartphone to a contactless payment system" /><figcaption>‘Tapping’ with your phone greatly reduces the pain of paying. <a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/k24rOBJ2D_0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">naipo.de/Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure> It turns out your method of payment changes how much pain you feel. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucv056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one study</a>, researchers asked some university employees if they would like to buy a mug at a discounted price. Half were only allowed to pay in cash, whereas the other half had to use a debit or credit card. Those who paid in cash self-reported more pain of paying. So, how can you use this to your advantage? Tip #2: Ramp up the pain. If you’re worried about overspending this holiday period, ramp up the pain of paying. You can do this by using cash or receiving a notification each time money leaves your account. After the purchase – stop chasing rainbows A fundamental feature of human beings is that we are adaptive – we easily get used to the new normal. This applies to our purchases, too. Scientists call it “<a href="https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds/docs/loewenstein/HedonicAdaptation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hedonic adaptation</a>”: over time, consumption of the same thing brings decreasing happiness. Remember the day you got your smartphone? You may have felt joy as you caressed the smooth aluminium back and watched light glint off the unblemished glass. Now look at your phone. What happened to the joy? It’s normal to experience hedonic adaptation. However, one problem is that we don’t anticipate it. Remember affective forecasting? Since <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3150499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">satisfaction is a function of expectations relative to performance</a>, when we fail to adjust our expectations in light of the inevitable hedonic adaptation, we end up dissatisfied. The second problem with hedonic adaptation is that the obvious solution appears to be buying something new. Maybe you need a new smartphone to replace your slightly scratched-up old one? If this is your thinking, you’ve just hopped onto the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.61.4.305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hedonic treadmill</a>. Now the only way to maintain your happiness is to spend more and more money to get better and better versions of everything. So, how can you get off this treadmill? Tip #3: Buy experiences, not things. It turns out <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaa047" target="_blank" rel="noopener">people end up happier when they buy experiences rather than things</a>. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12232-010-0093-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a study</a> that tracked how older adults spent their money found that only one category of spending was related to happiness: leisure purchases, such as going on trips, seeing a movie at the cinema, and cheering at sporting events. One reason for this is that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/597049" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we adapt to purchases of experiences more slowly</a> than purchases of material things. So, the next time you’re tossing up between buying tickets to a festival or getting the latest gadget, pick up your scratched-up smartphone and pre-purchase some festival tickets for you and your friends.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194821/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Writen by Adrian R. Camilleri. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/spending-too-much-money-tempted-by-sales-these-ways-to-hack-your-psychology-can-help-194821" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

6 signs of commitment issues, from 4 psychology experts

<h2>Do you know someone with a fear of commitment?</h2> Commitment may be the most critical component of successful long-term relationships. After all, says Lawrence Josephs, PhD, a professor at the Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University, New York: The more committed you are, the more stable, successful relationship you’ll have. Commitment is a decision, Dr Josephs says. It moves you and your partner beyond the initial chemistry that propelled you into the relationship in the first place to stay bonded after the initial period of bliss diffuses. John Lydon, PhD, a professor of psychology at McGill University in Montreal, explains: “Commitment is the general motivation to maintain one’s relationship.” Know somebody who seems like they could be lacking that motivation? Here are some tell-tell ways to recognise a fear of commitment – even in yourself. <h2>Why does someone fear commitment?</h2> Jessy Levin, PhD, a psychologist, says the reasons an individual is averse to commitment can vary, and some commitment-avoidant people may have more than just one of these reasons. Dr Levin adds that some people just don’t want to be in a long-term monogamous relationship ever. But how come? Well, says Dr Josephs, some people fear commitment because it implies responsibilities. Those may be financial: Maybe they’re not so keen on the idea of paying for two at dinner, the thought of buying gifts for holidays or birthdays, or they’re not interested in the thought of one day raising children (which typically demands financial stability and investment). Maybe they just loathe the idea of having to be somewhere on time for plans you’ve made. Other times, it may be a question of becoming more mature; more willing to shift one’s time and focus away from solely their own interests. You may have also had a brush with a case when an individual’s unwillingness to commit has been rooted in their childhood. Early family dynamics and previous trauma can play a role, says Matt Cohen, PhD, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina. “We are driven by a such a rich tapestry of our own histories,” Dr Cohen observes. “So many things impact how we show up in a relationship.” <h2>Inability to compromise</h2> Relationships, especially long-term ones, require give and take. Your partner hates musicals. You counted down weeks to the premiere of tick, tick…BOOM! In a healthy, balanced relationship, they’d need to be willing to subject themselves, at least sometimes, to your interests that they don’t particularly share. But what signifies actual commitment phobia? “A commitment is a willingness to sacrifice for the team,” says Dr Josephs. “Pay attention to how your partner deals with not getting his or her own way.” Put simply: If someone is consistently unwilling to compromise, that’s a sign they might not be prime long-term partner material. In that case, you might be called to decide: Is an inability to compromise one of your relationship deal breakers? <h2>Being self-centred</h2> Dr Josephs says being overly self-focused goes hand-in-hand with an unwillingness to compromise. “People who are high in narcissism have problems with commitment,” says Dr Josephs. “They’re more likely to feel that the grass is greener in other places. They put their own needs ahead of others.” Ever known anybody like that? It’s possible identity was also part of the issue. Dr Lydon explains: “When people define themselves in terms of their relationship, they are motivated to think and behave in ways that help sustain the relationship.” If you’d prefer a commitment, a suitable partner is likely someone who doesn’t just show the occasional behaviour that they care – instead, their love for you is a practice; a way of being for them every day. You’re an intrinsic part of their world, of their days – something so obvious that you’d barely think to question it. <h2>Angering easily</h2> At times, anger can be productive and even healthy for the relationship if it’s expressed appropriately, as it tells others that it is important to listen to us. Keeping the lines of communication open is necessary to maintain intimacy. Still, it might be a sign of wavering commitment if a person’s concern with their own self-interests leads to anger or frustration whenever they don’t get their way. “Some people are hypersensitive to rejection and abandonment, and if they’re disappointed, might respond in an angry retaliatory way,” says Dr Josephs. Tolerating abusive or violent words or behaviour? That’s a no. <h2>Problems dealing with adversity</h2> Adversity is sometimes the “stress test” for commitment, says Dr Lydon. “A person may say they are committed because they are highly satisfied and everything is going wonderfully, but will they stick with it when life presents some challenges to the relationship?” says Dr Lydon. Committed people stick with you through the good times and the bad. In fact, some couples find their partner shines – and even grows more lovable – when times are tough, and they weather through together. <h2>Prior history of troubled relationships</h2> Relationship history can provide clues about a person’s ability to stay in a long-term relationship. This can include past family relationships, lovers, or even platonic friends. There is often an association between a history of trauma and difficulty with intimacy and commitment. However, because some people with traumatic pasts still experience stable personal relationships, this factor alone doesn’t indicate a lack of commitment, according to Dr Cohen. <h2>Being distracted</h2> A seemingly distracted partner could signal someone who is not committed, says Dr Levin. An example might be observing that they back off from physical and sexual contact, not making dates in advance, or being emotionally withdrawn. “If a person is going through the motions in a lacklustre way, that’s a pretty good clue that they haven’t come to a place where they’re committed,” says Dr Josephs. <h2>What to do if your love interest seems non-committal</h2> Don’t lose heart if all these signs point to the likelihood that you or your partner lacks a desire to commit. If you’re in a dating situation and this is the case, clarifying that you’re on two different pages may offer the opportunity to allow each other to pursue the life you each truly crave. “A relationship has to meet the needs of each person,” Dr Levin says. And if you’re the one who’s not big on coupling up but you’d like to work on allowing a loving partnership into your life, therapy can be a great place to start. <h2>Can you make someone commit?</h2> The ultimate question for many dating people: Can you get someone to commit? Dr Levin suggests that in some cases, it may be possible for two people to commit equally to the relationship, even if one hasn’t been fully onboard. He alludes that it takes a mutual willingness to wade gently together out of the non-committal partner’s comfort zone, but a heads-up: This requires each person to communicate their needs, and to support the other. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/relationships/6-signs-of-commitment-issues-from-4-psychology-experts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Relationships

From wedding bells to wedding bills

Your wedding day is one of the happiest days of your life, but that is short lived not long after saying “I do”. Psychologists from Denver University tracked 168 people before and after they got married to prove their hypothesis where individuals who transition to marriage would report increases in general health. However, they could not prove their hypothesis with the physical and mental wellbeing only increasing before the wedding and takes a dip after the ceremony. Newlyweds also reported lower life satisfaction, higher levels of psychological distress as well as an increase in alcohol consumption. The findings were published in the Journal of Family Psychology but could not clearly explain it. Could possibly be from the huge wedding bill? Who’s to say. It did note that couples were extremely excited in the lead up to the wedding, to have all their close family and friends, to celebrate love which helps increase the physical and mental wellbeing. When the wedding is over, everyone goes their separate way and reality hits, all we know is that it takes two to tango and make the relationship work and support each other. Image: Shutterstock

Relationships

The psychology of COVID compliance

A study by Australian and Canadian researchers has identified some common psychological features of people who don’t follow COVID-19 restrictions or advice. It’s a diverse bunch, but in general, the COVID non-compliant are less likely to be cooperative and considerate, less willing to learn new information, but more extroverted. <div class="copy"> They’re also more likely to be male, and less likely to get their news from official sources. <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0255268" target="_blank">Published</a> in PLOS One, the study analysed results from an online survey of 1575 people in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US, taken in April and May 2020. Participants each spent 30–40 minutes answering questions relating to COVID attitudes and beliefs, as well as questions around personality, cognitive ability, and demographic information. “It was very interesting to see that people openly talked about planning for the next week, going to visit a friend or family – something which was strongly discouraged,” says Associate Professor Sabina Kleitman, lead author on the paper and researcher in psychology at the University of Sydney. Overall, around 90% of the participants were compliant with their current COVID restrictions. This varied very slightly from country to country – with 82% compliance among US residents, 88% in Australia and 94% in both Canada and the UK. “It was a quite a remarkable consistency at the time,” says Kleitman. “Now it could have changed completely, because that was during the first wave of the pandemic and the nations were very similar [in COVID restrictions]. Now they’re wildly apart.” The researchers divided results into groups based on attitudes towards COVID, and compliance. “It was a surprise to us to see that the non-compliant, they’re not the youngest,” says Kleitman. The least compliant group had a mean age of 29.1 – with a wide variation across the sample. They were cognitively similar to the compliant, but had a few personality differences – including being more self-interested, and less open to new information. “We did not find any differences between groups in actual metrics of intelligence and decision making we employed in the study, but we found the differences in intellect: the openness to new experiences personality dimension,” says Kleitman. The non-compliant were less worried about COVID, but not less worried in general – they were just as likely to be anxious about non-COVID things as their compliant counterparts. “We also thought neuroticism would play a role,” says Kleitman. “We thought people who are more predisposed to general worries and anxieties might be driving the compliance. “In our study [it] did not. Instead, it was just worries about COVID which separated these two groups.” Kleitman says that while lots has happened between April 2020 and now, the research has potential implications for messaging around COVID restrictions – particularly the tight rules currently in place in Greater Sydney, which aim to keep the Delta outbreak in check. “At the moment, our message is beautiful: we are all in it together,” she says. “It’s absolutely right, but is it reaching a non-compliant group who prioritize self-interest? I don’t think so.” The non-compliant are also less likely to use official sources and traditional media for their information, so Kleitman suggests other methods need to be used to get the word out. “I’m not saying that the message needs to change, but we need some additional messages, and perhaps we need additional mechanisms for delivering them. “Perhaps through a trusted family doctor talking on community radio stations, and other community leaders discussing the dangers of being infected and spreading it to their loved ones, and benefits of compliance, including vaccination; perhaps through the creative use of social media.” She adds that financial support is critical for increasing compliance. “Business and people affected by lockdown need the government’s support not to lose their livelihoods.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=160465&title=The+psychology+of+COVID+compliance" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/psychology-covid-compliance/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/ellen-phiddian" target="_blank">Ellen Phiddian</a>. Ellen Phiddian is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a BSc (Honours) in chemistry and science communication, and an MSc in science communication, both from the Australian National University. Image: Getty Images </div>

Mind

Psychology behind two common scams

Scammers rely on tried and true ways to manipulate how we think and act to make us more vulnerable. IDCARE counsellor Suli Malet-Warden explains how scammers use psychological games to entrap their victims in these two common schemes. Romance scam In the initial grooming stage, the scam artist works to gain a high level of trust from their victim to manipulate them into an “ether state”. Victims in this state characteristically have high oxytocin levels that are increased through “love bombing” - where the criminal validates the victim, tells them how amazing they are, sends love notes and poems relentlessly through the day, and emotionally bombardes them with “love vibes”. Once in this state, the criminal can start asking the victim for money, citing plausible but unusual reasons such as accidents, lost wallets or banking issues. The victim is also encouraged to keep messaging the scammer throughout the night, becoming sleep deprived, which has a detrimental effect on brain function. The scammer will promise an enticing future life with the victim, who will want to believe everything the scammer says and will employ selective thinking to do so. The victim will block out any observations that contradict the story the scammer is telling them, which is why it can be incredibly difficult for well-meaning friends and family to convince them they’re falling for a scam. Romance scammers often lure victims in using sexual desire and dreams of an intimate relationship in the future. The stronger the ‘pull’ for sexual connection, the less a victim will notice any gaps or oddities in the scammer’s story. The ATO scam Criminals using this scam send victims into “amygdala hijack”. This evolutionary response shuts down the prefrontal cortex - our rational ‘executive function’ area in the brain - in response to threats to our safety and security, which causes us to act and not think. Scammers often convince victims of the importance of needing to take immediate action, such as making an immediate payment in the Australian Tax Office scam, and the fear triggered by threats of imprisonment causes amygdala hijack. When the cash starts flowing Once the victim starts paying the scammer, they are susceptible to another psychological process called “induction of behavioural commitment” which makes them more motivated to keep giving money with the belief they will get it all back. The victim will be asked to make small steps of compliance to build trust in the scammer. Criminals also ensure the promised story of a better life is made vivid enough so the victim will still feel motivated to give money and continue making faulty decisions. This applies to both the romance and ATO scams, with scammers using the relationship, lottery winnings, or inheritances to suck the victim in.

Retirement Income

The psychology of comfort food - why we look to carbs for solace

Amid the global spread of COVID-19 we are witnessing an increased focus on gathering food and supplies. We’ve seen images of supermarket shelves emptied of basics such as toilet paper, pasta, and tinned foods. Messages to reassure people there would be continued supply of provisions has done little to ease public anxiety. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200304-coronavirus-covid-19-update-why-people-are-stockpiling">Panic buying and stockpiling</a> are likely responses to heightened anxiety, fear and uncertainty about the future. COVID-19 poses an imminent threat. Being able to exert some control over the situation by gathering goods to store for lockdown is one way individuals seek to manage anxiety and fear, and feel protected. But why do we seek out certain foods, and should we give in to cravings? Retreating into our pantries On the one hand, newly stocked and plentiful pantries, fridges and freezers reassure us that food is readily available and puts supplies within easy reach. At the same time, feelings such as loneliness, anxiety, depression, and stress may increase as we retreat and become housebound. So, we may be more vulnerable to what is referred to as “emotional eating” during this challenging time. Reaching out for food to comfort oneself is an attempt to manage or alleviate negative emotions. A person’s tendency to emotionally eat can be measured using questionnaires such as the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566631200013X">Emotional Eating Scale</a>, which asks about eating in response to anxiety, depression and anger. From an early age, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3907771/#B65">infants learn to associate feeding with being soothed</a> and social interaction. In everyday life, food is often used to enhance mood or “treat” ourselves. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30595479">Eating tasty food releases dopamine</a> in our brains, which is strongly associated with desire and wanting for food. Eating sweet and fatty foods <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16546294">may improve mood temporarily</a> by making us feel happier and more energetic while also satisfying our hunger. However, if comfort eating becomes a habit, it often comes with health costs, such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30894189">weight gain</a>. Research by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666318300874">Mantau and colleagues in 2018</a> found emotional eating is most likely to occur in response to stress and in individuals who are trying restrict their food intake (“restrained eaters”). These factors were more important in explaining people’s food choices than biological factors such as hunger. Other studies have also shown that trying to suppress food urges can be futile and have the opposite effect to the desired outcome. For example, dieters have been found to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666312000219">experience strong cravings</a> for the very foods they were trying to restrict. Doing it tough Employment insecurity, financial difficulty and hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic are affecting the lives of many people. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/985DE9F19CEA4165BE1E85A022BEFDFB/S0007125000253737a.pdf/inequality_an_underacknowledged_source_of_mental_illness_and_distress.pdf">Past</a> <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/71/4/324">research</a> has shown that poverty is associated with psychological distress, including higher rates of depression and lower mental well-being. Again, people’s ways of coping with this distress could have further ramifications for their health. Research <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.22402">shows</a> those in lower socioeconomic circumstances were more distressed, and more likely to turn to emotional eating as a way of coping. This emotional eating was, in turn, associated with increased body weight. This suggests it is not distress or biological make-up but people’s ways of coping (using food) that may be critical in explaining why some people gain weight in response to stressful life events. <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.031809.130711">People with a history of socioeconomic disadvantage </a> may also find it harder to cope with emotional distress, perhaps due to factors such as lower social support. As a result, they may be more vulnerable to using food as a way of coping. Toasty crusty goodness Baking has become a strong theme on social media. The #BakeCorona hashtag has <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2020/03/23/hashtag-connecting-home-bakers-isolation">taken off</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/quarantinebaking/">#QuarantineBaking</a> has over 65,000 posts. Research suggests there are likely benefits from engaging in cooking. The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29121776">psychosocial benefits of baking</a> have been shown to include boosts in socialisation, self-esteem, quality of life, and mood. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29955728">Cooking with children</a> may also promote healthy diets. By providing and sharing food with other people, baking may <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3907771/#B65">strengthen social relationships and make us feel closer to our loved ones</a>. This may explain why it has become so popular in these times. Coping with lockdown During this time of social isolation, it’s tempting to reach for food, but a healthy balance remains important. Creating a “new routine” or “new normal” which includes a variety of activities – exercise, baking, music, reading, online activities, working or studying, relaxing, keeping in touch with friends and family - may help maintain a sense of well-being, and assist in managing meal times and food intake. <a href="https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-how-to-do-it/">Mindfulness meditation practice</a> may be useful in managing emotional eating and weight. Research has shown that Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) are effective in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24854804">managing emotional eating</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29076610">reducing weight and improving obesity-related eating behaviours</a>. Weight management initiatives should encompass psychological factors such as mood and distress. Teaching people to develop positive coping strategies in these challenging times (problem solving, positive help seeking, relaxation techniques) may be particularly effective. Written by Joanne Dickson and Charlotte Hardman. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychology-of-comfort-food-why-we-look-to-carbs-for-solace-135432">The Conversation.</a>

Food & Wine

5 rules from psychology to help keep your new year's resolutions

We are creatures of habit. Between a third and half of our behaviour is habitual, <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/wood.neal.2009._the_habitual_consumer.pdf">according to research estimates</a>. Unfortunately, our bad habits compromise our health, wealth and happiness. On average, it takes <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.674">66 days to form a habit</a>. But positive behavioural change is harder than self-help books would have us believe. Only <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2728957">40% of people</a> can sustain their new year’s resolution after six months, while only <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16002825">20% of dieters</a> maintain long-term weight loss. Education does not effectively promote behaviour change. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16536643">review of 47 studies</a> found that it’s relatively easy to change a person’s goals and intentions but it’s much harder to change how they behave. Strong habits are often <a href="http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/704/1/sheeranp1.pdf">activated unconsciously</a> in response to social or environmental cues – for example, we go to the supermarket <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/how_supermarkets_tempt">about 211 times a year</a>, but most of our purchases are habitual. With all this in mind, here are five ways to help you keep your new year’s resolutions – whether that’s taking better care of your body or your bank balance. 1. Prioritise your goals Willpower is <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-00299-017">a finite resource</a>. Resisting temptation drains our willpower, leaving us vulnerable to influences that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/510228">reinforce our impulsive behaviours</a>. A common mistake is being overly ambitious with our new year resolutions. It’s best to prioritise goals and focus on one behaviour. The ideal approach is to make small, incremental changes that replace the habit with a behaviour that supplies a similar reward. Diets that are too rigid, for example, require a lot of willpower to follow. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8dAOTiWIPYE?wmode=transparent&start=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> 2. Change your routines Habits are embedded within routines. So disrupting routines <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-06516-003">can prompt us to adopt new habits</a>. For example, major life events like changing jobs, moving house or having a baby all promote new habits since we are forced to adapt to new circumstances. While routines can boost our productivity and add stability to our social lives they should be chosen with care. People who live alone <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315552294_Habits_Across_the_Lifespan">have stronger routines</a> so throwing a dice to randomise your decision making if you do could help you disrupt your habits. Our environment also affects our routines. For example, without giving it any thought, we eat popcorn at the cinema but not in a meeting room. Similarly, reducing the size of your storage containers and the plates you serve food on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0013916506295574">can help to tackle overeating</a>. 3. Monitor your behaviour “Vigilant monitoring” appears to be the most effective strategy for tackling strong habits. This is where people actively monitor their goals and regulate their behaviours in response to different situations. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19916637">meta-analysis of 100 studies</a> found that self-monitoring was the best of 26 different tactics used to promote healthy eating and exercise activities. Another <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37367696_Implementation_Intentions_and_Goal_Achievement_A_Meta-Analysis_of_Effects_and_Processes">meta-analysis of 94 studies</a> informs us that “implementation intentions” are also highly effective. These personalised “if x then y” rules can counter the automatic activation of habits. For example, if I feel like eating chocolate, I will drink a glass of water. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281450400_How_to_Maximize_Implementation_Intention_Effects">Implementation intentions</a> with multiple options are very effective since they provide the flexibility to adapt to situations. For example, “if I feel like eating chocolate I will (a) drink a glass of water, (b) eat some fruit; or (c) go for a walk”. But negatively framed implementation intentions (“when I feel like eating chocolate, I will not eat chocolate”) can be counterproductive since people have to suppress a thought (“don’t eat chocolate”). Ironically, trying to suppress a thought actually makes us <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3612492">more likely to think about it</a> thereby increasing the risk of habits such as binge eating, smoking and drinking. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20363904">Distraction</a> is another approach that can disrupt habits. Also effective is focusing on the positive aspects of the new habit and the negative aspects <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-22616-003">of the problem habit</a>. 4. Imagine your future self To make better decisions we need to overcome our tendency to prefer rewards now rather than later – psychologists call this our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzKix2xWmJI">“present bias”</a>. One way to fight this bias is to futureproof our decisions. Our future self tends to be virtuous and adopts long-term goals. In contrast, our present self often pursues short-term, situational goals. There are ways we can workaround this, though. For example, setting up a direct debit into a savings account is effective because it’s a one-off decision. In contrast, eating decisions are problematic because of their high frequency. Often our food choices are compromised by circumstance or situational stresses. Planning ahead is therefore important because we regress to our old habits <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597803001043">when put under pressure</a>. 5. Set goals and deadlines Setting self-imposed deadlines or goals helps us change our behaviour <a href="https://erationality.media.mit.edu/papers/dan/eRational/Dynamic%20preferences/deadlines.pdf">and form new habits</a>. For example, say you are going to save a certain amount of money every month. Deadlines work particularly well when tied to self-imposed <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ebd9/b0146b8ac12a54b13d290362a475b9c7c52d.pdf">rewards and penalties</a> for good behaviour. Another way to increase motivation is to harness the power of peer pressure. Websites <a href="https://www.stickk.com/">such as stickK</a> allow you to broadcast your commitments online so that friends can follow your progress via the website or on social media (for example, “I will lose a stone in weight by May”). These are highly visible commitments and tie our colours to the mast. A financial forfeit for failure (preferably payable to a cause you oppose) can add extra motivation.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128816/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brian-harman-648072">Brian Harman</a>, Lecturer in Marketing, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/de-montfort-university-1254">De Montfort University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/janine-bosak-400922">Janine Bosak</a>, Professor in Organisational Psychology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/dublin-city-university-1528">Dublin City University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-rules-from-psychology-to-help-keep-your-new-years-resolutions-128816">original article</a>.

Mind

All you need is love: the psychology of romance

What makes a relationship last? And what makes one couple crumble while another becomes stronger? There are some psychological theories that can explain romance and relationships. Theories of love and romance are often misinterpreted as cold or callous. But knowing the physics behind rollercoasters does not reduce their thrill and excitement. In the same way, the thrills, spills and romance of relationships exist far beyond the theories. The formation of a relationship is arguably the one of the most special moments. Life seems a little brighter, a little happier, and a lot more beautiful. Sadly, for most, this only usually lasts for a matter of rose-tinted weeks, until the honeymoon period wears off and reality seeps back in. The halo is removed, and the <a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/f/halo-effect.htm">effect</a> is diminished. It is at this stage that arguments usually begin, which, while not inherently unhealthy, can become so if they go unresolved. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZuometYfMTk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Explaining the ‘halo effect’. Some do find the resolution; others find their constitution – to continue. For those that do continue, the question psychologists often face is: why maintain an unhealthy relationship? It is to this question that psychological theories can shed some light. The gambler’s fallacy A man sits at a casino table, having lost a small fortune over a large amount of time. He mutters to himself: “my luck will change soon”. A woman sets out to go to work and sees it’s raining. Her car won’t start, and her umbrella is broken. Forlornly, she whispers: “surely, no more bad luck can happen”. In both cases, this is the <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eachaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gambler_s_fallacy.html">gambler’s fallacy</a> at work – the belief that runs of bad luck cannot last. This same effect can be used to explain why someone in a relationship continues to hope the relationship improves despite long periods of dysfunctional interaction. In nature, previous events seldom predict the future. In human nature, our past <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/witness/201301/the-best-predictor-future-behavior-is-past-behavior-0">strongly predicts our future</a>. Confirmation bias Even when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you still <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eachaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Confirmation_bias.html">believe what you want</a>, and this belief is an impenetrable fortress. An overarching explanation for why people will not quit at relationships is our own ego. Implicitly, when we make most choices, we believe we are correct. To justify our choice, we then seek information to support it – sometimes dismissing or denying evidence to the contrary. Religion’s representation of miracles is an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH9aHTkRRw0">example of this</a>. Irrespective of the myriad examples that falsify a claim, the one example that supports it is heralded and exaggerated. The scales should be weighed and judged equally. Loss aversion After some time, the relationship may have effectively broken down. Friends, family and the voice in your head are calling for a break-up. But some people still will not end their relationship. Why? Notable, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman">Noble-prize winning economists</a> developed the theory of <a href="http://loss-aversion.behaviouralfinance.net/">“loss aversion”</a> to explain people’s behaviour in winning and losing situations. On the one hand, having a dysfunctional relationship is a harmful, hurtful experience. However, usually by this stage, a person’s self-concept is so merged with their partner that being single seems worse still. <a href="http://psp.sagepub.com/content/40/1/57.abstract">Studies</a> have shown that our self-esteem can become dependent on a partner, and so losing a loved one really is like losing a part of you. But tearing a band-aid off quickly hurts less in the long-run. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6XWqLJQ_7_k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> The psychology of romance can go a long way to explaining why some people maintain commitment to a relationship that seems to have broken down. Ultimately, few relationships are all smooth sailing, and no success achieved ever came easily. The journey is long, and at times a struggle. However, always be willing to openly ask yourself: what would I advise a friend in my position to do? Some psychological theories can help us understand why some people stick with rough relationships and try to ride out the storm. Even the best explanations and theories, however, cannot explain what it is to see colours or enjoy rollercoasters. Given the unpredictable, irrational nature of humans, maybe all you need is love.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22975/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-keatley-106106">David Keatley</a>, Lecturer in Psychology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-you-need-is-love-the-psychology-of-romance-22975">original article</a>.

Relationships

The psychology behind why people buy

Between <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v21y2014i2p86-97.html">40% and 80%</a> of purchases are impulse buys. Marketers often get blamed for this, but while marketing tactics may be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2010.01187_2.x">cynical, manipulative, and even deceptive</a>, shoppers are generally wise to their ways. Of greater concern, is the fact that up to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/joc/article-abstract/64/5/915/4086043?redirectedFrom=fulltext">95% of our daily decisions</a> are potentially determined by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S105774080570108X">impulsive, unconscious processes</a>. All too often, consumers are ignorant of the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-98649-000">social influences</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288902202_Social_psychology_and_consumer_psychology_An_unexplored_interface">psychological states</a> that make them vulnerable shoppers. In fact, most people entertain a costly <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.552.7516&rep=rep1&type=pdf">illusion of invulnerability</a> and consider themselves especially shrewd shoppers. You can avoid spending too much by becoming more mindful of the factors that influence your shopping behaviours. Here are six factors which could cause you to overspend, along with some tips about how to counteract them. <h2>1. Social pressure</h2> Human beings are very susceptible to social pressures. The cooperative and competitive behaviours, which have ensured our survival as a species, also nudge us <a href="https://youtu.be/_qHYmx7qPes">to spend more than we need</a>. For example, the social norm of reciprocity obligates us to exchange gifts and good deeds at Christmas. Competition also fuels consumption: sales reinforce a sense of scarcity, and use time constraints to provoke a fear of missing out among shoppers – even when they’re buying online. Flash sales – such as Black Friday – create a herd mentality, which can provoke panic buying, hysteria <a href="http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/">or worse</a>. Being aware of these pressures will minimise their effects and allow you to maintain a sense of perspective. <h2>2. More abstract money</h2> The concept of money is a shared myth, powered by the human imagination. Our <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062316097/sapiens/">imagination has been instrumental</a> in the rapid development of the species, allowing people to swap pieces of paper and bits of metal for things they want. From notes and coins, to debit and credit cards, and most recently phones and <a href="https://www.fitbit.com/uk/fitbit-pay">Fitbits</a>, the human imagination accommodates increasingly abstract forms of money. This is dangerous. These new forms of money ease the “<a href="https://youtu.be/PCujWv7Mc8o">pain of paying</a>”, reducing the level of guilt we feel when parting with money. It temporarily hides the financial repercussions of our purchases (the lower bank balance or lighter wallet). This leads people to splurge without keeping track of the true financial costs of their decisions. Using cash when shopping will increase the pain of paying and make you more sensitive to how much you’re spending. This, in turn, will ensure that you only spend money on the items you really want. <h2>3. Decision fatigue</h2> Research <a href="https://www.guilford.com/books/Handbook-of-Self-Regulation/Vohs-Baumeister/9781462533824">suggests that</a> people have limited reserves of willpower. As we make decisions throughout the day, this reserve becomes exhausted, resulting in “resource depletion”. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/510228">Resource depletion</a> causes people to act impulsively. Doing shopping early in the day, and avoiding other sources of stress, such as big crowds, will minimise the risk of resource depletion. <h2>4. Mindsets</h2> Psychological states known as “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1057740810000215">mindsets</a>”, which influence perceptions and decision making, can also make people more likely to spend. They occur outside of our conscious awareness, when the thought processes we use in one situation are carried over and used to process information in the next. Thinking positively in one situation can predispose a person to think positively in an unrelated situation – for example, generating supportive thoughts about giving to charity might prime a person to have positive thoughts about the bottle of detergent they see in an ad break a few minutes later. The makes them more likely to buy it. Mindsets also influence shopping goals. People with a “deliberative mindset” are open minded and likely to review all their options, while people with an “implemental mindset” are more close-minded and goal-focused. An implemental mindset reduces procrastination and focuses people to pursue their buying goals. These goals could be explicitly stated in a shopping list or even activated unconsciously. The implemental mindset can be dangerous, because it creates <a href="http://journals.ama.org/doi/10.1509/jmkr.44.3.370">shopping momentum</a>. This is when buying one thing makes you more likely to buy another since your goal-focused mindset remains active even after you bought what you intended. This is one of the reasons why people emerge from shopping centres burdened down with several bags, having gone in to buy one item. Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074959781000110X">switching between different mindsets</a> can deplete your mental resources and cause you to spend more. Making rules to guide your decisions before you go shopping can counteract the effects of these mindsets and reduce the risk of shopping momentum. For example, telling yourself that if a product is below a certain price, you will buy it, but if it costs more, you will not. Making a list and setting a budget will help you remember the old adage, “it is not a bargain unless you need it”. <h2>5. Making comparisons</h2> Shopping is essentially a three step process. First you ask yourself, “do I want to buy something?”; then, “which product is the best?”; and finally, “how will I buy the product?”. But when people consider two possible purchases, it induces a “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/34/4/556/1820298?redirectedFrom=fulltext">which-to-buy</a>” mindset, which primes them to skip the first question, and makes them more likely to buy something. <h2>6. The halo effect</h2> Using mental shortcuts help us navigate everyday life more efficiently. Yet these shortcuts <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/thinking-fast-and-slow-9780141033570">can also lead to</a> incorrect assumptions and costly mistakes. In the context of shopping, not all assumptions are bad. Indeed, some assumptions are central to marketing. For example, branding works because we assume that products under the one brand have a similar level of quality. But other assumptions are less reliable. The “halo effect” occurs when we make incorrect assumptions, which lead us to think positively about something. So, the eye catching deals we see in the front window often make us assume that the other in-store deals are equally valid and generous. To counteract the halo effect, you need to come prepared. Knowing the recommended retail price (RRP) of products will ensure that you are not influenced by high anchor prices that give the impression of deep discounts. Remaining sceptical and calm will improve your decision making and reduce the risks of cognitive bias. This will likely be good for society, the environment and your pocket.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108680/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brian-harman-648072">Brian Harman</a>, Lecturer in Marketing, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/de-montfort-university-1254">De Montfort University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/janine-bosak-400922">Janine Bosak</a>, Associate Professor in Organisational Psychology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/dublin-city-university-1528">Dublin City University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-avoid-overspending-uncover-the-psychology-behind-why-people-buy-108680">original article</a>.

Retirement Income

Trick or treat? The psychology of fright and Halloween horrors

Halloween is upon us. The spirits of the departed return to haunt the living and demons roam the land. Predictably, scary movies flood television screens and packs of costumed, sugar-crazed children wander the streets. In many ways, trick or treating and watching horror movies are puzzling activities. What possesses people to help their children become ghouls, monsters and supernatural villains for one enchanted evening? Why do we seek out experiences that we know will expose us to dread, disgust and terror? Not everyone is drawn to these experiences, of course. As a rule, humans seek pleasure and avoid pain. But some seem to welcome emotional pain and even luxuriate in it. The ‘Dark’ factor Researchers have explored what influences enjoyment of horror movies in the hope of understanding the paradox that lies at its heart. Liking horror movies is associated with an underlying dimension of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2964424/">entertainment preferences</a>, dubbed “the Dark factor”. People who find horror particularly appealing tend to enjoy heavy metal or punk music, cult films and erotica. They tend to be young and male. Those with Dark tastes value intensity, edginess and rebellion. Their personalities lean towards risk taking, antagonism, imagination and tough mindedness. Some of these attributes reflect the personality trait of sensation seeking. High sensation seekers crave intense, novel, and risky experiences and are especially fond of frightening movies. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19585588">One study</a> used fMRI to scan brains of people while they watched a horror film. Those who scored high on a sensation-seeking measure showed activation in brain regions associated with arousal and visual processing during threatening scenes. This activation was stronger than when they were exposed to neutral scenes. Intriguingly, high sensation seekers’ neural response to scary scenes wasn’t higher than their low sensation seeker peers. Instead, high sensation seekers reacted less intensely to neutral scenes. By implication, sensation seekers are bored and understimulated by the everyday. They show a magnified response to thrilling departures from normality. In essence, they enjoy horror because it is arousing. The pleasure paradox Empathy is also related to our differing fondness for frightening movies. More empathic people are likely to put themselves in the shoes of horrors movies’ sliced and mangled victims and to find the vicarious experience unpleasant. <a href="http://crx.sagepub.com/content/17/5/616">One study</a> showed people who scored higher on an empathy test made more effort to distract themselves during horror scenes and found them less appealing. They also showed a greater drop in skin temperature, indicating unpleasant arousal. Arguably, having less empathy enables people to interpret frightening scenes as “just a movie” and detach their emotional response. Of course, there is a world of difference between coming face to face with a knife-wielding man in a hockey mask and seeing him on a screen. That difference may just be smaller for more empathic people. Another factor that influences the enjoyment of fright is “meta-emotion”. This concept refers to how people feel and think about their emotions. Some derive enjoyment from negative emotional states, as when enjoying a “good cry”, for instance. Indeed, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15506878jobem4402_8">a study</a> found that people who like sad films enjoy a scene relative to how much sadness it elicits. The stronger the sadness, the higher the enjoyment. The idea of meta-emotion resolves the hedonic paradox (the pursuit of negative experience for pleasure) by recognising that we can put a positive frame around a negative experience, and vice versa. In one study, <a href="http://crx.sagepub.com/content/37/2/167.abstract">German researchers found</a> people who generally avoided strong emotions felt negatively about their emotional response to a horror film. Those drawn to strong emotions enjoyed the movie experience more. Enjoying horror films may be like enjoying chilli pepper or skydiving. The apparent benign masochism is driven by a desire for intense experiences, even when they are painful, unpleasant and contrary to our animal instincts. Trick or treat! Trick or treating has also interested psychologists. During this <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/eth.2005.33.2.180/abstract">inversion of social norms</a> children dress as powerful, wicked or monstrous beings and taboos around death and evil are relaxed. Researchers have used this ritualised suspension of normal expectations as a creative way to study rule-breaking. Several studies have examined whether being costumed or masked affects childrens’ tendency to take more treats than allowed. Such effects might reveal the dangers of deindividuation (where individuals lose social restraints in groups). Sure enough, costumed children who are <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1976-20842-001">anonymous</a>, by wearing masks for instance, are more likely to take extra candies. Halloween also seems to bring out excesses in adults. Costumed Halloween celebrators tend to have <a href="http://eab.sagepub.com/content/39/3/352.short">higher blood alcohol</a> readings than people in plain clothes. There are also substantially increased levels of vandalism and property destruction. One form of crime that <a href="http://sax.sagepub.com/content/21/3/363.abstract">does not spike at Halloween</a> though, is sexual abuse of children by strangers – despite some panic in the United States. But children on the day are at substantially increased risk of pedestrian motor vehicle accidents. So look left, look right, and be careful on the roads. And don’t forget to look out for other dangers lurking under the bed, in the closet, beneath the stairs, behind the curtains, inside the vacant house on the corner ….<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49800/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, University of Melbourne. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/trick-or-treat-the-psychology-of-fright-and-halloween-horrors-49800" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

Movies

The psychology behind why clowns creep us out

Hollywood <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095444/?ref_=nv_sr_1">has</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156398/?ref_=nv_sr_1">long</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2900624/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4">exploited</a> our deep ambivalence about clowns, and this fall’s film lineup is no different. Stephen King’s evil clown, <a href="https://ramirezmedia.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/wpid-clown-pennywise.jpg">Pennywise</a>, will make his second screen appearance in two years in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7349950/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">It Chapter Two</a>,” while Batman’s demented nemesis The Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, will appear as the antihero of his origin story, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Joker</a>.” How did a mainstay of children’s birthday parties start to become an embodiment of pure evil? In fact, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7189401.stm">a 2008 study conducted in England</a> revealed that very few children actually like clowns. It also concluded that the common practice of decorating children’s wards in hospitals with pictures of clowns may create the exact opposite of a nurturing environment. It’s no wonder <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2011/05/20/mcdonalds-ceo-to-food-police-the-clowns-going-nowhere/">so many people hate Ronald McDonald</a>. But as a psychologist, I’m not just interested in pointing out that clowns give us the creeps; I’m also interested in why we find them so disturbing. In 2016, I published a study entitled “<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X16300320">On the Nature of Creepiness</a>” with one of my students, Sara Koehnke, in the journal <a href="http://www.journals.elsevier.com/new-ideas-in-psychology">New Ideas in Psychology</a>. While the study was not specifically looking at the creepiness of clowns, much of what we discovered can help explain this intriguing phenomenon. The march of the clowns <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-history-and-psychology-of-clowns-being-scary-20394516/?no-ist">Clown-like characters</a> have been around for thousands of years. Historically, jesters and clowns have been a vehicle for satire and for poking fun at powerful people. They provided a safety valve for letting off steam and they were granted unique freedom of expression – as long as their value as entertainers outweighed the discomfort they caused the higher-ups. Jesters and others persons of ridicule go back at least to ancient Egypt, and the English word “clown” first appeared sometime in the 1500s, when Shakespeare used the term to describe foolish characters in several of his plays. The now familiar circus clown – with its painted face, wig and oversized clothing – arose in the 19th century and has changed only slightly over the past 150 years. Nor is the trope of the evil clown anything new. In 2016, writer <a href="http://benjaminradford.com/">Benjamin Radford</a> published “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Clowns-Benjamin-Radford/dp/0826356664">Bad Clowns</a>,” in which he traces the historical evolution of clowns into unpredictable, menacing creatures. The persona of the creepy clown really came into its own after serial killer <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544">John Wayne Gacy</a> was captured. In the 1970s, Gacy appeared at children’s birthday parties as “Pogo the Clown” and also regularly painted pictures of clowns. When the authorities discovered that he had killed at least 33 people, burying most of them in the crawl space of his suburban Chicago home, the connection between clowns and dangerous psychopathic behavior became forever fixed in the collective unconscious of Americans. Then, for several months in 2016, <a href="http://www.vocativ.com/356953/creepy-clown-sightings/">creepy clowns terrorized America</a>. Reports emerged from at least 10 different states. In Florida, <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/gone-viral/sfl-creepy-clowns-lurk-around-florida-as-part-of-dangerous-nationwide-trend-20160927-htmlstory.html">fiendish clowns were spotted lurking by the side of the road</a>. In South Carolina, clowns were reportedly trying to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/us/creepy-clown-sightings-in-south-carolina-cause-a-frenzy.html?_r=0">lure women and children into the woods</a>. It isn’t clear which of these incidents were tales of clowning around and which were truly menacing abduction attempts. Nonetheless, the perpetrators seem to be tapping into the primal dread that so many children – and more than a few adults – experience in the presence of clowns. The nature of creepiness Psychology can help explain why clowns – the supposed purveyors of jokes and pranks – often end up sending chills down our spines. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X16300320">My research</a> was the first empirical study of creepiness, and I had a hunch that feeling creeped out might have something to do with ambiguity – about not really being sure how to react to a person or situation. We recruited 1,341 volunteers ranging in age from 18 to 77 to fill out an online survey. In the first section of the survey, our participants rated the likelihood that a hypothetical “creepy person” would exhibit 44 different behaviors, such as unusual patterns of eye contact or physical characteristics like visible tattoos. In the second section of the survey, participants rated the creepiness of 21 different occupations, and in the third section they simply listed two hobbies that they thought were creepy. In the final section, participants noted how much they agreed with 15 statements about the nature of creepy people. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-ooze/201505/how-we-decide-whos-creepy">The results</a> indicated that people we perceive as creepy are much more likely to be males than females, that unpredictability is an important component of creepiness and that unusual patterns of eye contact and other nonverbal behaviors set off our creepiness detectors big time. Unusual or strange physical characteristics such as bulging eyes, a peculiar smile or inordinately long fingers did not, in and of themselves, cause us to perceive someone as creepy. But the presence of weird physical traits can amplify any other creepy tendencies that the person might be exhibiting, such as persistently steering conversations toward peculiar sexual topics or failing to understand the policy about bringing reptiles into the office. When we asked people to rate the creepiness of different occupations, the one that rose to the top of the creep list was – you guessed it – clowns. The results were consistent with my theory that getting “creeped out” is a response to the ambiguity of threat and that it is only when we are confronted with uncertainty about threat that we get the chills. For example, it would be considered rude and strange to run away in the middle of a conversation with someone who is sending out a creepy vibe but is actually harmless; at the same time, it could be perilous to ignore your intuition and engage with that individual if he is, in fact, a threat. The ambivalence leaves you frozen in place, wallowing in discomfort. This reaction could be adaptive, something humans have evolved to feel, with being “creeped out” a way to maintain vigilance during a situation that could be dangerous. Why clowns set off our creep alert In light of our study’s results, it is not at all surprising that we find them to be creepy. <a href="http://www.raminader.com/">Rami Nader</a> is a Canadian psychologist who studies coulrophobia, the irrational fear of clowns. Nader believes that clown phobias are fueled by the fact that clowns wear makeup and disguises that hide their true identities and feelings. This is perfectly consistent with my hypothesis that it is the inherent ambiguity surrounding clowns that make them creepy. They seem to be happy, but are they really? And they’re mischievous, which puts people constantly on guard. People interacting with a clown during one of his routines never know if they are about to get a pie in the face or be the victim of some other humiliating prank. The highly unusual physical characteristics of the clown – the wig, the red nose, the makeup, the odd clothing – only magnify the uncertainty of what the clown might do next. There are certainly other types of people who creep us out; taxidermists and undertakers made a good showing on the creepy occupation spectrum. But they have their work cut out for them if they aspire to the level of creepiness that we automatically attribute to clowns. In other words, they have big shoes to fill. This is an updated version of an article originally published on Sep. 28, 2016. Written by Frank T. McAndrew. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychology-behind-why-clowns-creep-us-out-65936">The Conversation.</a>

Mind

The internet is now an arena for conflict – and we're all caught up in it

Most people think the internet operates as a kind of global public square. In reality, it’s become a divided arena where conflict between nation states plays out. Nation states run covert operations on the same platforms we use to post cat videos and exchange gossip. And if we’re not aware of it, we could be unwittingly used as pawns for the wrong side. How did we get here? It’s complicated, but let’s walk through some of the main elements. The age of entanglement On the one hand, we have an information landscape dominated by Western culture and huge multi-national internet platforms run by private companies, such as Google and Facebook. On the other, there are authoritarian regimes such as China, Iran, Turkey and Russia exercising tight control over the internet traffic flowing in and out of their countries. We are seeing more cyber intrusions into <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-state-actor-has-targeted-australian-political-parties-but-that-shouldnt-surprise-us-111997">nation state networks</a>, such as the recent hack of the Australian parliamentary network. At the same time, <a href="https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/lucas-kello-gives-evidence-to-house-of-lords-committee.html">information</a> and influence operations conducted by countries such as Russia and China are flowing through social media into our increasingly shared digital societies. The result is a <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/stack">global</a> ecosystem <a href="https://nsc.crawford.anu.edu.au/news-events/podcasts/video/10698/towards-political-ecology-cyberspace-3-3">perpetually</a> close to the threshold of war. Because nations use the internet both to assert power and to conduct trade, there are incentives for authoritarian powers to keep their internet traffic open. You can’t maintain rigid digital borders and assert cyberpower influence at the same time, so nations have to “<a href="https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/IS3903_pp007-047.pdf">cooperate to compete</a>”. This is becoming known as “entanglement” – and it affects us all. Data flows in one direction Authoritarian societies such as China, Russia and Iran aim to create their own separate digital ecosystems where the government can control internet traffic that flows in and out of the country. The Chinese Communist Party is well known for maintaining a supposedly secure Chinese internet via what is known in the West as the “<a href="https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/the-great-firewall-of-china-background/index.html">Great Firewall</a>”. This is a system that can block international internet traffic from entering China according to the whim of the government. For the majority of the <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/21/china-reaches-800-million-internet-users/">802 million people online</a> in China, many of the apps we use to produce and share information are not accessible. Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter are blocked. Instead, people in China use apps created by Chinese technology companies, such as Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu. Traffic within this ecosystem is monitored and censored in the most sophisticated and comprehensive surveillance state in the world. In 2018, for example, Peppa Pig was <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-peppa-pig-became-a-gangster-figure-in-china">banned</a> and the People’s Daily referred to her as a “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180502092019/http://media.people.com.cn/BIG5/n1/2018/0426/c40606-29950870.html">gangster</a>” after she became iconic of rebelliousness in Chinese youth culture. Complete blocking of data is impossible A key objective of this firewall is to to shield Chinese society and politics from external influence, while enabling internal surveillance of the Chinese population. But the firewall is not technologically independent of the West – its development has been reliant upon US corporations to supply the software, hardware innovation and training to ensure the system functions. And since the internet is an arena where nations compete for economic advantage, it’s not in the interest of either side to destroy cyberspace entirely. As cyber security expert Greg Austin <a href="https://www.springer.com/la/book/9783319684352">has observed</a>, the foundations of China’s cyber defences remain weak. There are technical ways to <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F11957454_2">get around the firewall</a>, and Chinese internet users exploit <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-metoo-to-ricebunny-how-social-media-users-are-campaigning-in-china-90860">Mandarin homophones and emoji</a> to evade internal censors. Chinese economic and financial entanglement with the West means complete blocking of data is impossible. Consistent incentives to openness remain. China and the United States are therefore engaged in what Canadian scholar of digital media and global affairs Jon R Lindsay <a href="https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/IS3903_pp007-047.pdf">describes</a> as: <blockquote> chronic and ambiguous intelligence-counter intelligence contests across their networks, even as the internet facilitates productive exchange between them. </blockquote> That is, a tension exists because they are covertly working against each other on exactly the same digital platforms necessary to promote their individual and mutual interests in areas such as trade, manufacturing, communications and regulation. Since Russia is less dependent upon the information technology services of the United States and is therefore less entangled than China, it is <a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/unsw-canberra-cyber/news/australian-cyber-ideas-moscow">more able</a> to engage in bilateral negotiation and aggression. Different styles of influence If the internet has become a contest between nation states, one way of winning is to appear to comply with the letter of the law, while abusing its spirit. In the West, a network of private corporations, including Twitter, Google and Facebook, facilitate an internet system where information and commerce flow freely. Since the West remains open, while powers such as Russia and China exercise control over internet traffic, this creates an imbalance that can be exploited. Influence operations conducted by China and Russia in countries such as Australia exist within this larger context. And they are being carried out in the digital arena on a <a href="https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/update-state-sponsored-activity/">scale</a>never before experienced. In the words of the latest <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf">US Intelligence Community Worldwide Threat Assessment</a>: <blockquote> Our adversaries and strategic competitors […] are now becoming more adept at using social media to alter how we think, behave and decide. </blockquote> The internet is a vast infrastructure of tools that can be used to strategically manipulate behaviour for specific tactical gain, and each nation has its own style of influence. I have previously written about attempts by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-digital-media-blur-the-border-between-australia-and-china-101735">China</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/russian-trolls-targeted-australian-voters-on-twitter-via-auspol-and-mh17-101386">Russia</a> to influence Australian politics via social media, showing how each nation state utilises different tactics. China takes a subtle approach, reflecting a long term strategy. It seeks to connect with the Chinese diaspora in a <a href="https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/57781/apt/operation-cloud-hopper-apt10.html">target country</a>, and shape opinion in a manner favourable to the Chinese Communist Party. This is often as much as about <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-china-will-be-watching-how-we-commemorate-anzac-day-75856">ensuring some things aren’t said</a>as it is about shaping what is. <a href="https://theconversation.com/russian-trolls-targeted-australian-voters-on-twitter-via-auspol-and-mh17-101386">Russia</a>, on the other hand, has used more obvious tactics to infiltrate and disrupt Australian political discourse on social media, <a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-been-hacked-so-will-the-data-be-weaponised-to-influence-election-2019-heres-what-to-look-for-112130">exploiting</a> Islamophobia – and the divide between left and right – to undermine social cohesion. This reflects Russia’s primary aim to destabilise the civic culture of the target population. But there are some similarities between the two approaches, reflecting a growing cooperation between them. As the <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf">US Intelligence Community</a> points out: <blockquote> China and Russia are more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s. </blockquote> A strategic alliance between Russia and China The strategic <a href="https://toinformistoinfluence.com/2017/07/24/forget-sun-tzu-the-art-of-modern-war-can-be-found-in-a-chinese-strategy-book-from-1999/">origins of these shared approaches</a> go back to the early internet itself. The Russian idea of <a href="https://www.nato.int/DOCU/review/2015/Also-in-2015/hybrid-modern-future-warfare-russia-ukraine/EN/index.htm">hybrid warfare</a> – also known as the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/05/im-sorry-for-creating-the-gerasimov-doctrine/">Gerasimov Doctrine</a> – uses information campaigns to undermine a society as part of a wider strategy. But this concept first originated in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In 1999, Chinese PLA colonels penned a strategy titled <a href="https://www.oodaloop.com/documents/unrestricted.pdf">Unrestricted Warfare</a>, which outlined how to use media, government, pretty much everything, in the target country not as a tool, but as a weapon. It recommended not just cyber attacks, but also fake news campaigns – and was the basis for information campaigns that became famous during the 2016 US presidential election. In June 2016, Russia and China <a href="http://www.russia.org.cn/en/russia_china/president-vladimir-putin-and-chairman-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china-xi-jinping-held-talks-in-beijing-june-25-2016/">signed</a> a joint declaration on the internet, affirming their shared objectives. In December 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on a new <a href="http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2563163">Doctrine of Information Security</a>, which establishes how Russia will <a href="https://www.cyberdb.co/russia-and-china-are-making-their-information-security-case/">defend</a> its own population against influence operations. <a href="https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d23109be-661d-4e90-a92c-32b7330e3a49">Observers</a> noted the striking similarity between the Russian document and Chinese internet <a href="https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/cybersecuritylaw/?lang=en">law</a>. Russia and China also <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/cyberattack-revelations-appear-undercut-russia-un">share a view</a> of the global management of the internet, pursued via the United Nations: <blockquote> […] more regulations to clarify how international law applies to cyberspace, with the aim of exercising more sovereignty – and state control – over the internet. </blockquote> The recent “sovereign internet” <a href="http://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/608767-7">bill</a> introduced to the Russian Parliament <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-bill-on-autonomous-operation-of-internet-advances-in-duma/29765882.html">proposes</a> a Domain Name System (DNS) independent of the wider internet infrastructure. If the internet is now a site of proxy war, such <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2466222">so-called</a> “<a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/q-a-hurdles-ahead-as-russia-surges-on-with-sovereign-internet-plan/29766229.html">balkanization</a>” challenges the dominance of the United States. Nations are competing for <a href="https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/harnessing-david-and-goliath-orthodoxy-asymmetry-and-competition">influence, leverage and advantage</a> to secure their own interests. Russia and China don’t want to risk an all out war, and so competition is pursued at a level just below armed conflict. Technology, especially the internet, has brought this competition to us all. We're entering turbulent waters Despite its best efforts, China’s leaders remain concerned that the digital border between it and the rest of the world is too porous. In June 2009, Google was blocked in China. In 2011, Fang Binxing, one of the main designers of the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/great-firewall-of-china">Great Firewall</a> expressed concern Google <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dEGdCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=Fang+Binxing+2011+riverbed+benjamin+bratton&source=bl&ots=61Gnc-6vW-&sig=ITVdygMm5ZmxuelLYB6w9oa6Cos&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib66X9mPvcAhXHU7wKHRHrDiUQ6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=Fang%20Binxing%202011%20riverbed%20benjamin%20bratton&f=false">was still potentially accessible in China</a>, saying: <blockquote> It’s like the relationship between riverbed and water. Water has no nationality, but riverbeds are sovereign territories, we cannot allow polluted water from other nation states to enter our country. </blockquote> The water metaphor was deliberate. Water flows and maritime domains define sovereign borders. And water flows are a good analogy for data flows. The internet has pitched democratic politics into the fluid dynamics of <a href="http://politicalturbulence.org/">turbulence</a>, where algorithms shape <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwjden/targeted-advertising-is-ruining-the-internet-and-breaking-the-world">attention</a>, tiny clicks <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-science-research-and-methods/article/quota-sampling-using-facebook-advertisements/0E120F161C9E114C6044EBB7792B5E70">measure participation</a>, and personal data is <a href="https://www.chinoiresie.info/the-global-age-of-algorithm-social-credit-and-the-financialisation-of-governance-in-china/">valuable</a> and apt to be <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3224952">manipulated</a>. While other nations grapple with the best mix of containment, control and openness, ensuring Australia’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/china-in-focus/10181900">democracy remains robust</a> is the best defence. We need to keep an eye on the nature of the political discussion online, which requires a coordinated approach between the government and private sector, defence and security agencies, and an educated public. The strategies of information warfare we hear so much about these days were conceived in the 1990s – an era when “surfing the web” seemed as refreshing as a dip at your favourite beach. Our immersion in the subsequent waves of the web seem more threatening, but perhaps we can draw upon our cultural traditions to influence Australian security. As the rip currents of global internet influence operations grow more prevalent, making web surfing more dangerous, Australia would be wise to mark out a safe place to swim between the flags. Successful protection from influence will need many eyes watching from the beach. Written by Tom Sear. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-internet-is-now-an-arena-for-conflict-and-were-all-caught-up-in-it-101736">The Conversation.</a>

Technology

Our Partners

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Contests

Entertainment

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Property

Games

Information

Keep up to date

Search

The psychology of retirement: why do so many athletes struggle to call time?

To-do list got you down? Understanding the psychology of goals can help tick things off – and keep you on track

Why do we love to see unlikely animal friendships? A psychology expert explains

What ‘psychological warfare’ tactics do scammers use, and how can you protect yourself?

How ‘dad jokes’ may prepare your kids for a lifetime of embarrassment, according to psychology

‘Psychological debriefing’ right after an accident or trauma can do more harm than good – here’s why

How scammers use psychology to create some of the most convincing internet cons – and what to watch out for

Why do musicians like Elton John find retirement so tough? A music psychology expert explains

Spending too much money? Tempted by sales? These ways to ‘hack’ your psychology can help

6 signs of commitment issues, from 4 psychology experts

From wedding bells to wedding bills

The psychology of COVID compliance

Psychology behind two common scams

The psychology of comfort food - why we look to carbs for solace

5 rules from psychology to help keep your new year's resolutions

All you need is love: the psychology of romance

The psychology behind why people buy

Trick or treat? The psychology of fright and Halloween horrors

The psychology behind why clowns creep us out

The internet is now an arena for conflict – and we're all caught up in it

Our Partners