4 social experiments that reveal hidden facets of the human being

Throughout history, a large number of social experiments have been carried out that They seek to reveal some hidden facet of the human being or prove that we have behaviors of which we are not really aware.

Although Most of these social experiments are not done with the same rigor with which scientific experiments are carried out., they do provide us with interesting conclusions with a high degree of validity. Basically they show that certain behaviors are repeatedly repeated in different individuals.

Some of these social experiments prove truths that we sometimes intuit. Others show us that we act more irrationally than we think. Let’s look at some examples of those tests that are done without major pretensions.

1. The news infects us

This is one of the most interesting social experiments, especially because it was carried out with a large number of people: 689,003 in total. It is a social media experiment, which was done in collaboration with Facebook. It consisted of bombarding users with news negative for seven days in a row.

The result was that during that period, users began to make more negative comments about their lives and everything around them.. It seems that the news induced them to have a more pessimistic mood.

The interesting thing is that the reverse test was then done with positive news and this time the users were more optimistic and happy.

2. One of the social experiments on prejudices

This is one of the most revealing social experiments and was carried out in Holland, sponsored by the brewery Heineken. To carry it out, three pairs of people who were completely ideologically opposite were taken. each other, but they didn’t know it.

One of the couples was made up of an environmentalist and a staunch consumerist. The other couple settled for a radical feminist and a declared sexist. Finally, the third couple was made up of a transsexual and a man with deep-rooted conservative values.

Each pair was asked to build structures based on instructions and cooperating with each other. They were also given some questions to ask each other that had nothing to do with their differences.

At the end they were asked if they wanted to have a beer with their partner to continue talking.. Everyone accepted and thus it was proven that ideology does not have to be a problem when it comes to relationships.

3. A social experiment on unemployment

This was an experiment that took place in Finland and two thousand people participated, all of them unemployed. In reality, it is one of the simplest, but also most revealing, social experiments. Each of the participants was simply given a monthly sum of 560 euros in exchange for nothing.

They had the right to obtain money for their expenses, but they were not obliged to seek employment or develop any entrepreneurial activity. The first thing that happened was that the level of anxiety decreased noticeably in all the people who were part of the experiment.

The majority did not take more than six months to get a job that guaranteed them a better income or to embark on a business adventure. to fend for yourself. Likewise, tranquility allowed almost all of them to choose tasks that they liked and that allowed them to feel better.

4. Support for children

This is another of the social experiments that shows the importance that support has in a person’s life. In this case the study It was done with primary school children and aimed to evaluate the impact that the figure of the teacher generates on their school performance..

The children were divided into two groups: one was the light-eyed children and the other was the dark-eyed children. On the first day, the teachers showered the light-eyed children with praise and privileges, while they were indifferent or disdainful toward the dark-eyed children.. They were both doing their school activities. The next day, the roles were exchanged.

The result was that, during each day, The children who were praised and taken into account performed significantly better than the others. In turn, those who were ignored visibly lowered their level, to the point that some were not able to perform simple tasks. This shows that recognition and support have a decisive impact on learning and performance.

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