The world is full of different people from different places who observe different cultures, value different ideas, and follow different paths. No matter how different we may seem, at the core of our being, we have so much in common. We share physical characteristics, of course, a head, two eyes, ten fingers, and as many fingers, but we are also bound by psychological similarities.
Even if we live on opposite sides of the world, we all share common behaviors that influence the choices we make, the people we like, and the goals we pursue. Yet few understand the psychological roots of our common humanity. Some of the most “human” behaviors are routinely ignored and rejected, leading some people to ultimately violate human nature. For example, if you analyze common social norms, you may find that our society is based on huge misconceptions about how real people think, feel, and act.
Table of Contents
10 Interesting Psychological Facts about Human Behavior
10: Moody Styles
Without realizing it, most people use clothing to communicate how they are feeling. Someone happy may wear brighter, lighter, and more structured clothing. On the other hand, if someone is having a bad day, they can choose something darker, darker, and more relaxing.
Even if someone is trying to hide their mood or emotions, their clothes usually give away more than they think. So, pay attention to the way people dress daily. If you can pick up on subtle changes in their mannerisms, you can get a window into their true thoughts and feelings.
09: Self-Replicating Emotions
Most of the time, human emotions replicate themselves. In other words, happy people make happy choices, while lonely and sad people behave in ways that reflect their state of mind. Of course, we’re simplifying the problem here, but it’s important to remember how your actions affect your view of the world.
Happiness begets joy, and grief begets grief. Spread any emotion into the world, and the world will return the same emotion to you.
Read More: 10 Toxic Habits
08: The Evolution of Psychology
You may not realize it, but your attitudes, preferences, and instincts are all evolutionary adaptations, designed to give you some sort of advantage in your current environment. When you hear the word “adaptation,” you might think of physical features, like giraffes developing long necks to eat from the tallest trees.
But many of the things you do every day are the product of this evolutionary process. In other words, what we call “human behavior” actually evolved over millions of years, allowing humans to become the successful species we are today.
07: Unconscious Healing
Your body is an incredibly complex system, yet many things you eat are designed to make you unhealthy. Sacrificing physical health in favor of professional, financial, or social gain is becoming more and more acceptable in our society. For example, you may work long hours at night to get ahead at work, impairing your eyesight and damaging your posture. Fortunately for us, our bodies have incredible abilities to heal themselves.
Natural repair mechanisms are constantly at work to repair and undo the damage you do to yourself every day… and your mind controls, smooths, and Monitors it. Of course, almost every one of these processes occurs unconsciously. We take these systems for granted because we don’t see, hear or feel them. But without them, our self-destructive choices will quickly destroy us.
06: The Work Paradox
Does money motivate us more or less to perform at our best? You might think that a big salary would motivate you to excel at your job, but often the opposite is true. People work harder on projects when they are not paid enough—or not at all. In other words, as strange as it sounds, getting a paycheck can ultimately reduce your motivation.
Why? Because your intentions have changed. When you accept payment for something, it’s no longer a passion project. It becomes something you do “for the money” and that makes it much less intrinsically motivated. Even though you might expect a big payout, the best work you do in life won’t earn you a dime.
05: The Downside of Preparation
Before facing a challenge, many people like to have a backup plan — a Plan A and a Plan B. You prepare as much as possible to give yourself the best chance of success, but what if your backup plan is hurting your chances of success? Turns out, your plan A is more likely to fail if you spend time preparing for another option.
Here’s why. Making a plan B takes advantage of the possibility that plan A won’t work. When this happens, your confidence in the first plan begins to wane, making it more likely that you will fail. As strange as it sounds, being prepared doesn’t always work in your favor.
04: Unnatural Violence
Many people believe that humans are violent by nature. That we are somehow programmed to hurt other beings, to fight and claim victory. But a closer look at human psychology reveals that humans are not designed to be violent towards one another but to experience a powerful emotion called empathy. Some of the best evidence for this idea comes directly from your brain, where structures called mirror neurons allow you to perceive the behavior of other people.
Mirror neurons play an important role in modern cognitive abilities, such as the use of language, and explain the human brain’s incredible capacity for emotion. It’s easy to look at all the violence in the world and think poorly of humanity, but remember: caring about other people is part of who we are.
03: The Language of Expressions
There are hundreds of languages in the world today, spoken by all kinds of people around the world, yet there is one language that almost everyone knows and understands. The only universal language on the planet is… the language of expression.
No matter where someone is from or how they were raised, a smile or a frown sends a message that we can all understand. Expressive language varies greatly across cultures and social groups. Why? Because human expressions are ingrained within our psychology.
02: Outgroup Homogeneity
Humans have an exceptional ability to distinguish between members of our social groups, but we often struggle to identify more diverse characteristics. Thanks to a psychological phenomenon called outgroup homogeneity, we have difficulty distinguishing between less familiar faces. As you gain more experience with a greater variety of traits, you become more perceptive and observant.
But until then, a large group of people look very similar to you. It’s not something anyone wants to hear – and in some contexts, it can be considered offensive – but it’s a common psychological bias and a surprising fact of human behavior.
01: Understanding Evil
What does it mean for someone to be “evil?” The term evil is often tied to specific people. We look at someone’s history of immoral behavior and treat that person as if they are rotten to their core. But that’s rarely how it works.
Instead, evil behavior is usually created by destructive environmental influences, rather than innately evil dispositions. This doesn’t give anyone an excuse to do evil things, but it’s important to consider where evil comes before we can understand why it exists.