Reverse Psychology Effect
A persuasion tactic where suggesting the opposite of what you want can make someone choose your desired option, due to their resistance to being controlled.
This technique involves advocating for a specific choice while secretly hoping the person will rebel and pick the opposite. It works because people often react negatively to feeling pressured, a phenomenon called psychological reactance. For example, a parent might tell a teenager they must stay home, hoping the teen will insist on going out.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
A friend warns, 'I really don't think you should go to that concert. The crowd will be awful.' The person buys a ticket the next day.
A shop assistant notes, 'Most people your age prefer the simpler model.' The customer, not wanting to be stereotyped, chooses the more feature-rich version.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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