5 Psychological Facts That Will Blow Your Mind!

The field of psychology looks at the science of the mind and behaviour. Studies trying to understand why we are the way we are have been going on for decades and will continue into the future.

We're learning more and more each day, but there's still so much we don't know. Some study findings are more fascinating than others. Did you know that punctuating in your text messages makes you come across as insincere? Strap yourself in. You're in for a wild psychological ride. The following psychology facts could just explain or confirm some of the things you see in yourself or others!

Number 1 - If We Have a Plan B, Our Plan A is Less Likely to work. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied the performance of volunteers on a certain task, and found that participants who thought about a backup plan did worse than those who didn't. They also found that when participants realised they had other options, their motivation decreased. This is related to Expectancy Theory, which was developed by Victor H. Vroom in 1964. Expectancy theory basically states that your motivation for something is a function of whether you expect to be successful at it. Inherent in a backup plan is that you're not going to succeed the first time around. Researchers say it's important to think ahead but advise against getting too caught up in the details. You could inadvertently be sabotaging your success.

Number 2 -Beginnings and Ends Are Easier to Remember Than Middles.Have you ever been grocery shopping and forgot your grocery list? When trying to remember things without it, you can visualize it and remember things close to the beginning and the end. But the things in the middle are a little fuzzy. A study in the Frontiers of Human Neuroscience confirmed this. It's called the Serial-Position Effect. It's also why you might remember the end of your manager's presentation, but the middle, not so much. So, it really is a thing, and you may not have ADHD after all.

Number 3 - Food Tastes Better When Someone Else Makes It. Ever wonder why food always tastes better when Mum makes it? In fact, food tastes better whenever anyone else makes it assuming they're a decent chef. Researchers attribute this to the fact that when you're preparing a meal for yourself, by the time you're ready to eat, it's been so long that it's less exciting, and as a result, you enjoy it less.

Number 4 - Our Brain Doesn't Think Long-Term. Deadlines Are So Important Yeah, you could probably start on that big project for work or school now, but you've got several months. Before you know it, those months are gone, and you're scrambling to cram months' worth of work into a matter of days. Urgent, unimportant tasks are more appealing. They provide instant gratification because they're quicker and easier to cross off your to-do list. Our brains process short-term deadlines like those measured in days better than long-term ones such as months or years. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs-up, and share it with your friends, so we can keep making them. For more videos like this, hit the subscribe button, and remember to click on the notification bell. Also, be sure to check out our other videos as well.

Number 5 - It Takes Five Positive Things to Outweigh A Single Negative Thing You might've heard the advice to start and end your day by thinking about a few things you're grateful for. This helps keep us balanced because we have what's called a Negativity Bias which makes us focus on the bad stuff instead of the good. It’s useless to ruminate on the negative things that bring you down. Shoot for a ratio of five good things to one bad in your life. You just might manifest something wonderful!