كيف تتشكّل شخصياتنا دون علمنا | بودكاست آدم

Summary

The 'mere exposure effect' causes people to develop more positive impressions of things the more they are exposed to them. This happens because familiarity breeds comfort, according to the 'uncertainty theory'. The effect also relates to 'cognitive fluency'; the easier it is for our brains to process something, the more we like it. This effect has implications in many areas of modern life and social media, where we passively consume high volumes of content. While exposure can normalize negative ideas, it can also help counter things like racism. We must be careful curators of what we allow ourselves to be frequently exposed to.

Takeaways

• 😀 The mere exposure effect is a cognitive bias where people react more positively to things the more they are exposed to them.
• 😮 Frequent exposure to something familiar makes us feel safer and more comfortable compared to new unfamiliar things.
• 🤔 The mere exposure effect happens unconsciously - even if we don't remember the exposures.
• 😟 Frequent exposure to violent content can decrease brain activity in areas that control self-regulation and increase aggression.
• 😀 Positive mere exposure can condition us to do productive and delightful things through environmental cues.
• 🤨 Social media platforms leverage the mere exposure effect by showing us more of what we click on.
• 😥 Negative mere exposure on social media can shape our values through unconscious conditioning.
• 😊 Studies show that frequent exposure to other races reduces racism by creating positive impressions.
• 💡 Institutions can harness mere exposure to shape social patterns and conventions.
• 🙏 We must be conscious of what we allow ourselves to be frequently exposed to - it shapes who we become.

Q & A

What is the mere exposure effect?

The mere exposure effect is a cognitive bias where people react more positively to things the more they are exposed to them.

Why does the mere exposure effect happen?

The mere exposure effect happens because we feel safer and more comfortable with things we are familiar with compared to new things that could potentially pose a threat.

How does cognitive fluency theory explain the mere exposure effect?

Cognitive fluency theory states that when we are frequently exposed to something, we can more easily understand and interpret it. This feeling of understanding leads to a positive mood and liking of that thing.

How did the teachers at the school encourage students to speak English?

The teachers imposed fines if students used Arabic words while speaking English, which conditioned the students to speak English only over time as they wanted to avoid accumulating fines.

How can negative mere exposure impact people?

Studies show that frequent exposure to violent content can decrease activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for self-control. This can lead to an increase in violent tendencies.

How can positive mere exposure be used to improve daily life?

We can enhance our daily environment with ideas, concepts and things that help improve our lives, exposing ourselves and those around us to constructive messages.

How did exposing participants to words related to old age impact their behavior?

Participants exposed to old age words walked slower after the experiment, demonstrating that mere exposure had clearly impacted their actual behavior.

How can reducing exposure to minority groups lead to racism?

Studies show that increasing exposure to minority group pictures leads to more positive impressions. Lack of exposure in media contributes to existing racism in societies.

What can institutions do to utilize mere exposure theory?

Governments and organizations can expose the public to constructive ideas and behaviors through campaigns to positively impact social patterns.

How can we counteract negative effects of mere exposure?

We should regularly revise our social media feeds and the accounts we follow to limit negative exposure and maintain positivity.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Mere Exposure Effect - The Familiarity Principle

Paragraph 1 introduces the mere exposure effect - the phenomenon where people develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. It illustrates this via an example of helping a familiar cafe customer versus a stranger, and explains that this happens because familiar things feel safer while unfamiliar things seem potentially dangerous.

05:02

😕 Uncertainty Leads to Dislike of Unfamiliar Things

Paragraph 2 delves deeper into why the mere exposure effect occurs. It attributes it to uncertainty - people are wary of unfamiliar things because they may pose harm. However, when an unfamiliar thing proves to be safe, the fear and uncertainty begins to fade. The paragraph also provides examples of the effect in action.

10:05

🧠 Cognitive Fluency - Ease of Processing Drives Preference

Paragraph 3 introduces cognitive fluency as another driver of the mere exposure effect. When something becomes familiar, it becomes easy to process and understand cognitively. This ease of processing generates positive feelings which get associated with the familiar thing itself. The paragraph illustrates this via examples and ties it back historically to early Islamic history.

15:06

📱 Concerning Impacts in The Digital Age

Paragraph 4 discusses the concerning implications of the mere exposure effect in modern digital media. Passive content consumption combined with algorithmic amplification leads to normalization of extreme content. It provides disturbing examples of violence desensitization.

20:08

😇 Potential for Good, But Self-Awareness Critical

Paragraph 5 emphasizes that while mere exposure can have negative impacts, it also holds potential for positivity. It suggests actively shaping one's environment with positive stimuli. However, developing self-awareness around these unconscious biases is critical.

25:11

🧘Conclusion - Guard Your Exposure

Final paragraph concludes by urging self-reflection on what one chooses to expose oneself to frequently. It advocates being selective about the circle of influence to consciously shape one's character, rather than being passively molded by external forces.

Keywords

💡mere exposure effect

The mere exposure effect refers to the phenomenon where people develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. As explained in the video, the more we are exposed to something, even briefly, the more we like it and feel comfortable with it. Our behavior and interactions with familiar things also change. For example, in the video, the narrator explains how he would be more likely to help a familiar person at the coffee shop than a stranger, simply because of mere exposure.

💡uncertainty

Uncertainty refers to the state of being unsure or having doubts. According to the uncertainty theory discussed in the video, people are generally wary of and afraid of things they don't understand, especially new, unfamiliar things. However, as they become more familiar with something new and realize it doesn't pose a threat, their fear and uncertainty begins to fade away.

💡cognitive fluency

Cognitive fluency refers to how easily our brains can process and understand information. As explained in the video, when we repeatedly expose ourselves to something, we can more easily interpret and understand it. This feeling of easy understanding in turn makes us feel more positively towards that thing.

💡lazy reception

Lazy reception refers to the passive, uncritical way in which we often receive massive amounts of content and information on social media and the internet. As the narrator explains, because life is busy and fast-paced, and there is so much content constantly available, we often don't properly process, think critically about, or "digest" the content we consume online.

💡desensitization

Desensitization means becoming accustomed to something, so that it no longer shocks or upsets you as much as it used to. In the video, the narrator gives the example of how constantly watching violent videos online led him to become desensitized and numb to violence in real life.

💡normalization

Normalization means accepting or treating something as normal that was previously considered abnormal or even shocking. As explained in the video, the massive amounts of poor quality content online has led to the normalization of things people previously found inappropriate or shameful.

💡values

Our values refer to the principles and ideals that guide our behavior and decisions. As discussed in the video, the content we consume online shapes our consciousness and values, often without us realizing it, like water slowly carving stone.

💡environment

Our environment includes both our physical and our digital surroundings - the people, messages, images etc. that we are exposed to regularly. As emphasized in the video, we must be careful to fill both our physical and online environments with positive influences that bring out our best selves.

💡self-control

Self-control refers to our ability to control our impulses and behavior. The video discusses a study showing how exposure to violent videos decreased activity in the part of the brain responsible for self-control.

💡conscious consumption

Conscious consumption means carefully choosing and being selective about the information and content we consume regularly. The video urges us to periodically refine our digital diets by pruning the accounts we follow and the content we see based on our values.

Highlights

The mere exposure effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to react more positively to things the more they are exposed to them.

The mere exposure effect happens because we feel much safer with what we are familiar with than with something new that is possibly dangerous.

The more you become familiar with something, even briefly, the more you like it and feel comfortable with it.

Seeing someone regularly but not interacting with them leads to a positive impression, due to the mere exposure effect.

Frequent exposure to something makes us form a positive impression without judging if it's good or bad.

Cognitive fluency, when we easily understand something from repeated exposure, makes us view it more positively.

Social networks exploit the mere exposure effect by pushing easy, short, fast content to satisfy users.

Frequent exposure to violent content decreases activity in the prefrontal cortex, the brain area linked to self-control.

We can use mere exposure positively by surrounding ourselves with uplifting ideas, art, and activities.

Seeing pictures of other races frequently can reduce racism by forming positive impressions.

Institutions can harness mere exposure for public good by promoting positive social patterns.

We must be aware of everything we expose ourselves to frequently, as it shapes our values.

Clean your informational diet regularly by examining the accounts you follow.

Receive content actively, not passively, to avoid sinking to rock bottom.

We are responsible for influencing ourselves first, then those around us through mere exposure.

Transcripts

Mere Exposure Effect

Let's say you have a favorite coffee shop you visit frequently.

Every time you go there, you see the same person.

A person who looks and acts normal.

A person you don’t know anything about and never talked to.

One day, this person asked for your help with something.

Let’s say, with his car.

You would most likely help him.

All right.

Now imagine if you were sitting at the same coffee shop,

and someone you see for the first time enters the coffee shop

and asked for your help.

You probably would hesitate to help him.

Or you wouldn’t feel encouraged as

when you helped the first person.

Even if the second person looked normal

and had a similar request to the first one.

What is the difference here?

Why did we help the first person

and hesitate to do the same for the second person?

They are both strangers.

People who we don’t know.

Except that we are used to seeing the first person daily.

I'm Mohammad Al-Hajji

and this is Adam podcast by Thmanyah.

To understand ourselves and others for a better life.

Mere Exposure Effect

The reason for helping the first person

and hesitating to do the same for the second one

is the familiarity principle.

The more you become familiar with something,

even a little bit and briefly,

the more you like it and feel comfortable with it.

Therefore, your interaction with and behavior toward it

becomes different.

This is known as the “mere exposure effect.”

This effect applies to people, things,

and, more dangerously, ideas.

In short, the mere exposure effect is a cognitive bias.

It's when people react more positively to things,

the more they get exposed to them.

All right.

Why does all of this happen?

The Uncertainty Theory

"People are afraid of what they don’t understand."

We use this saying a lot.

It explains what happens precisely with the mere exposure effect.

Humans are usually weary of new things

because they might cause them harm.

However,

when we try and examine a new thing that turns out to be safe,

our fear starts to dissipate.

We relax and learn that it doesn't pose a threat.

In other words,

The mere exposure effect happens because we feel much safer

with what we are familiar with

than with a new thing that is possibly dangerous.

A while ago, at the beginning of the semester,

we registered our son Waleed for daycare.

I went with him on his first day in the daycare

to see how he would react.

He cried a lot.

He was very upset.

Then, I started telling him how he has friends at school,

and I would give him a box of candies to share with everybody.

I wanted him to adapt to the new place because he was upset.

I then decided to go with him to the daycare

for a few hours until he stopped crying and relaxed.

When he stopped crying and started to get along,

I returned home.

This happened in the first week.

During the second and third weeks, he started to adapt.

When he played with his friends at lunchtime,

he would come to me and tell me he was happy with his friends

and that I could return home.

Think about one of your collogues or neighbors you see every day.

Someone you see regularly but have never interacted with

except for exchanging hellos.

Even if you don’t know any significant information about them,

you would most likely form a positive impression of them

just because you see them regularly

and haven’t had any bad experiences with them.

The issue with the mere exposure effect and familiarity

is that they arbitrarily generate a positive impression

without testing whether the subject is good or bad.

Meaning just becoming familiar with something

makes you form a positive impression of it.

For example,

if I showed you photos of random people you don’t know repeatedly

and then asked what you think of these people,

the result would be surprising and funny.

The more you see a photo of a person,

the more favorable your impression of them becomes.

A similar study was carried out

to study the popularity of US presidents.

There was a strong correlation between the president's popularity

and the number of times his photos were shown

in newspapers.

And why is that?

Because people saw the president's photos regularly,

which led them to form a favorable impression of him.

There is something even more interesting than that.

We don’t need to be aware of what we are exposed to

to assess them properly.

Most times, the mere exposure effect happens unknowingly

or unconsciously.

Researchers found that the mere exposure effect occur

even if people don’t remember it happening.

I went to an international school when I was in sixth grade.

The teachers were trying to encourage us to speak in English.

One of the reasons was that we came from different countries,

and they wanted to reduce the cultural gap between us.

They imposed a rule on us to speak in English only.

And to reinforce this rule,

they imposed fines.

What were those fines for?

If we were talking in English

and used Arabic words in our conversations

they would fine us five riyals.

If we kept doing this, the fines would accumulate significantly.

This, of course, made us anxious

because we didn’t want to tell our parents

that we needed thirty or forty riyals because we spoke Arabic.

They would ask us why we were speaking Arabic in English class

in the first place!

They have conditioned us to speak in English only.

But we didn’t want to speak English with each other

during lunch break, for example.

I didn’t want to risk someone passing by

hearing me speaking Arabic.

As long as we were inside the school,

it wasn’t an option for us.

We must speak English.

Over time, our Arabic vocabulary has decreased

compared to English.

Any word you can think of, we know it in English.

But if you asked me for the Arabic Equivalent, I couldn’t answer.

Familiarity and Safety

In a study, a researcher asked participants

to read a foreign language vocabulary loudly.

Participants read the words many times.

They repeat some words twice,

other words ten times,

and others twenty-five times.

After reading the words,

they were asked to guess the meaning of each word

and whether they carry positive or negative connotations.

The researcher found that participants preferred the words

they read many times.

Whereas words they read fewer times

were classified as words with negative connotations.

Words that were read twenty-five times

had the highest rating for having a positive connotation.

In this case, the mere exposure was enough

to make the participants take a liking to the words.

The mere exposure effect generates a feeling of

familiarity and safety.

I lived in Jeddah alone for three years.

I’m not a picky eater.

I ate two meals a day, breakfast and dinner.

There was a small restaurant under my apartment.

I would buy shakshuka before I went to work,

and when I returned from work, I would buy nuggets, a burger,

or whatever.

There was an employee who worked there named Ali.

I don’t know if it was his real name or Saudi nickname.

He was Bengali, in his fifties.

Over time, we developed a type of connection.

I got used to him.

I don’t know anything about his personal life.

When he visited his family, I asked his friend about him.

When he returned, I asked him about his vacation and family.

How they were doing and if someone got married.

We only talk about these things.

I think he is a good person.

He was very nice to me.

He knew who I was and my usual order.

He greeted me with a smile.

For example, if I didn’t show up for two days,

he would make me feel that I was missed.

He would ask why I didn’t come.

Cognitive Fluency Theory

There is another factor that explains mere exposure.

"Cognitive fluency."

Cognitive fluency can be explained as follows:

when we get exposed to or see something frequently,

we can easily understand and interpret it.

And when we understand something, we feel comfortable with it.

Think, for example, of a movie you watched.

The first time you watch a movie,

you might find yourself struggling to understand what is happening,

who are the characters and how they are connected, etc.

Therefore, you might not enjoy the film a lot

due to the information processing.

However,

If you watch the movie for a second time,

you will probably enjoy it much more

because you have already learned about the characters and the plot.

You aren't burdened with the cognitive processing of taking it all in.

Your brain is clear.

The same happens when you read a book many times.

The first reading might be difficult.

You would barely understand.

But when you reread it,

you will enjoy it and pay attention to the details.

This could be what the writer Al-Aqqad

was referring to when he said:

"Reading a good book three times

is better than reading three new books."

Cognitive fluency leaves us with a positive mood.

The problem is we think that this positive feeling

results from what we have been exposed to.

Be it a book, movie, or anything else.

Whereas we only feel positive because we understood it.

In other words,

you wouldn't like a movie because it's necessarily a good movie

but only because you understood it the second time.

This explains why English content gains popularity,

whether funny or inspirational, etc.

Just because it's written in English,

it gains popularity, respect, admiration, and interaction

among people who know the language.

It's only because we understood it.

Therefore, our reaction is positive

despite our opinion of the content itself.

Looking at Islamic history,

we find the concept of cognitive fluently perfectly represented

in the Quranic verse:

(And those who disbelieve say,

"Do not listen to this Qur'an

and speak noisily during [the recitation of] it

that perhaps you will overcome.")

Quraish whistled, clapped, and talked each time

the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) raised his voice to recite Quran.

They did this to prevent their followers from mere exposure,

understanding the verses,

and eventually believing in his message.

The easier our brain processes information,

the more we become familiar with something.

The more familiar something becomes, the more we like it.

Our brains always prefer the least resistant path.

The easiest path.

Lazy Reception

Despite the numerous topics suggested to discuss in this podcast,

I chose this one because of its great importance in today's world.

A world where we get exposed to an overload of ideas,

people, and things daily.

Positive and negative, of course.

But we know that negative content is the most popular,

gains more interaction,

and impact people's lives the most.

Most of the time, we receive content passively,

without mental interaction.

Most of our social media consumption is lazy

and leaves its mark on our brains and souls

without thinking about or testing it.

We consume content while driving, using the bathroom,

before sleeping, after waking up, and during meals.

You might even be listening to this episode passively.

Our life is busy and fast,

and the amount of content is tremendous and terrifying.

It's impossible for us in this fast pacing environment

to think about and inspect our informational diet,

so we consume everything.

My weekly average is five hours and nine minutes.

Oh!

It's seven hours.

It's too much.

Last week's average is six hours and five minutes.

The total screen time is shocking.

Last week's average is five hours and 42 minutes.

I don't know what to say.

I think I'm inventing a rocket!

The total screen time is terrifying.

It's 42 hours.

Almost two full days of the week have been spent on the phone.

This is not normal.

Mere Exposure Effect

Most of us don't realize the impact of mere exposure

on many aspects of our lives.

This exposure affects our choices, opinions,

behavior, and values.

Watching any content regularly leads to desensitization

and makes it socially acceptable.

We are currently witnessing the normalization of pornographic,

erotic, cheap, and misleading content

on different social media platforms.

We are surrounded by all this trash.

Indeed there are things we used to consider insane,

but today consider them acceptable and normal.

There are things that we used to consider rare and strange,

but today we consider them usual.

Whether they make you a good person

or the bad version of you.

What happened here is the result of frequent mere exposure.

Indeed, we don't want to live alone

or with people who resemble us in a bubble.

On the contrary, people should seek diversity

to expand their perceptions and thinking.

But it's also important to establish a foundation for our values

that we don't easily stray from or give up.

Social networks are designed initially

to reinforce frequent mere exposure.

Sometimes you click on content suggested on the explore page

out of curiosity.

Suddenly, your page becomes filled with the same type of content.

The same and similar content keeps showing on your page daily

becoming your daily meal

with all the values, messages, and meaning they carry.

Social networks use the mere exposure flaw

by making fast, short, and easy content.

Such as "shorts" on YouTube and short TikTok videos.

Their ease of use satisfies the users' cravings,

but they repeatedly expose them to mostly trashy content.

I'm addicted to fighting content.

Some YouTube channels upload videos of fighting.

You can find many street fightings around the world.

They are all over the internet.

I don't know what to tell you.

They can be violent and bloody.

I don't know if it was because...

I love to watch boxing and UFC and things like that.

This could be a result of that.

I'm not sure.

But over time, I became desensitized to violence.

Seriously.

Sometimes when I'm hanging out with my friends,

I show them these videos.

I tell them, "Look how he beats him up!",

or "Look how he insults him and humiliates him."

They would look at me and ask me what was wrong with me.

They ask me how I can watch these kind of videos.

Negative Mere Exposure

An experiment was done on participants

while they watched short videos that showed two types of content.

Violent content and normal content.

The violent content was full of physical violence between people,

such as shooting and stabbing.

Whereas the neutral content showed people playing sports, for example.

They measured the neural brain activity of the participants

while they watched these videos.

They found that frequent exposure to violent content

had led to a decrease in prefrontal cortex activity.

The brain area that is responsible for self-control.

The decrease in prefrontal cortex activity

is linked to increased violent behavior.

The study also showed that short exposure to violent content

leads to an increase in violent tendencies

and the prefrontal cortex activity decreased

with each following violent video.

Positive Mere Exposure

What can we do about this effect?

First of all,

we should know that we can use the power of mere exposure

to condition ourselves to do delightful and productive things

for ourselves, our children, or our close circles.

For example,

we can enhance our daily lives and our surrounding environment

with concepts, ideas, and things that help us improve our lives.

For example,

you can expose your child to literature and rhetoric at home

using audio-visual material

or hanging calligraphy art that displays such fine content.

We must fill our environment with what we want to be exposed to.

A study has divided participants into two groups.

The first group was exposed to words related to old age.

They let them read words such as retirement, Alzheimer, elderly, etc.

The second group was exposed to random words

such as bottle, chair, and school.

All participants were observed

as they walked out of the experiment room.

The first group exposed to words related to old age

walked slower than the second group.

It's as if getting exposed to words that describe inability

had affected their walking behavior.

I had, I would say, idealistic high expectations.

I expected to go to the coffee shop

and be received by a happy barista who would smile at me,

welcome me and nicely ask what my order is.

Then he would give me my order committing no mistakes.

I used to get upset and angry at them.

I used to ask them if they knew what company or brand

they were representing.

I told them they worked at a global company

and had to be more courteous.

I would literally waste my energy

on these situations.

I think because I watched movies and tv shows,

I thought I should receive the same level of quality as what I saw.

I had this expectation of what level of service I should get.

With time, as I grew up and became more experienced,

I realized that the waiter who works at the coffee shop

or restaurant, a service provider,

or anyone in this life is a human too.

He might not have receive his salary yet

or is going through something else.

Remembering this helps you empathize with people

you might see as objects in your life

and think of them as humans like yourself.

Another thing is

with time and encountrering many different situations and people,

I realized how normal it is to be imperfect

and became less upset about it.

Mere Exposure Advantages

Institutions and governments can also use

the power of mere exposure for the public interest

in creating new impressions,

constructive social patterns, and valuable social conventions.

Let's take an example.

A researcher wanted to test the mere exposure effect

in reducing racism.

He concluded that frequent exposure

to pictures of other racial minorities

led participants to form positive impressions of these minorities

and increase their liking.

Minority groups appear less on Western media,

which might explain part of the roots of racism in these societies.

Such studies have been carried out numerously.

They have succeeded times and failed other times.

But, in general, we've learned that mere exposure

might affect our ideas and behavior.

We must ensure that our environment in the real and digital world

is rich with positive signals

that help enhance ourselves and our families.

Conclusion

Clean the swamp.

This is the answer to solving any problem entirely.

We must consciously try to select

everything we get exposed to frequently.

Because we are on social media before sleeping

and after waking up,

these platforms have unknowingly

formed our consciousness and values.

Like raindrops that carve stones gradually.

I urge you and urge myself to take a look at the accounts we follow

and appear to us regularly.

Clean this list regularly

according to what you allow for yourself, your awareness,

and your value as an independent person

who doesn't shape his personality according to others.

You must do this refining process as a periodic exercise

to occasionally revise and adjust the mere exposure.

It's a constant balance to maintain the purity of the heart and soul.

We are responsible for influencing ourselves first

and then those around us.

We can willingly make a difference in this circle.

Even if we aren't responsible for the insanity of this world,

we can mentally protect our brains and souls.

Let's not receive content passively so we don't sink to rock bottom.

I believe it's the desired end of denouncing evil actions in one's heart

according to the Hadith of the Prophet.

To protect the soul from getting accustomed to evil.

The important question is,

what do you often get exposed to?

Does it make you a better person?

How will you reach a better version of yourself and your life?