Affinity Bias: The Comfort And Curse Of Conformity

Our world is unstable and unpredictable, which makes some people, especially those who are nervous and hyper-controlling, seek stability and security in something that can hold them when their ship starts to sink, caught in the chaos of global fishing nets.

They find this in a lifeboat called “Affinity Bias,” which is the preference for what is eternal, what is almost perfect. Someone like you, but not exactly you. Someone like us, someone who shares the same interests, who also likes a hamburger without ketchup or knows ancient Greek. Indeed, from a socio-psychological perspective, we tend to like those who are similar to us because this confirms our values and boosts our self-esteem. 

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Hello Again

Dear A.,

It’s been a long time since we saw each other the last time. I remember it was an ordinary day. The sky was overcast with indifferent clouds. That day, I kept wanting to ask how you were doing. But that intrusive wind whistled so loudly in my ears and stole my breath that I could not utter a word. The only thing I could do was shift from one foot to the other and look at your tousled hair. So we parted ways that day.

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Mere-Exposure Effect

How the mere exposure effect influences your life.

The mere-exposure effect is a tendency to prefer the more familiar to you over something new and unknown.

The more often you see something, the more positively you perceive it. At the same time, the first contact with something new must make either a neutral or a positive impression on you. These can be the people you meet every day, the music you listen to, or well-known brands whose numerous advertisements are profoundly imprinted in your subconscious.

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Why Making Mistakes Is Useful

afraid of making mistakes
Source: Marcelo Chagas on Pexels

“Learn from your mistakes,” a saying goes. However, the fear of making mistakes is big enough. If someone notices your oversight, it could seem to you that the end of the world is incredibly close, and everyone around you accuses you of incompetence. However, research shows that making mistakes is beneficial to you. The result is not only social acceptance but also an increase in brain efficiency. I want to note that we are not talking about huge mistakes like the explosion of a nuclear power plant. It is about the mistakes in everyday life by committing which we feel out of place.

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4 Types of Attachments You Should Know About

How to understand why you are attracted to a specific type of person and recognize the principles of people’s behaviour you are interested in.

Source: John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Sometimes it isn’t easy to understand a relationship. Sometimes you wonder why you are attracted to a particular type of person. Sometimes you ask yourself why someone lives with one person their whole life, and someone breaks their heart over and over again?

It’s all about attachment type. Formed in childhood, they often carry over to romantic relationships in adulthood, following the same pattern all the time.

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Mind Games: Why First Impressions Are Deceiving

How we form a first impression of a person and what factors influence it.

In front of you is a person who you see for the first time. How long does it take to get your first impression of them? A few seconds? A couple of minutes? In any case, it will take no more than five minutes. After that, you know whether you are ready to initiate a new acquaintance into the secrets of your universe or to accuse them of the sins of this mortal world.

A question that may not be so easy to answer: are we, in principle, able to correctly assess the person who we see for the first time?

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