Why does making a small mistake sometimes make someone more likeable? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the pratfall effect - the psychological phenomenon where a minor slip-up can actually increase someone's appeal, especially if they're already seen as competent.

Discover how imperfection can humanise us, how confidence interacts with mistakes, and how a flaw can actually make you more relatable.

Studies and links:

The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness | Elliot Aronson, University of Texas | Ben Willerman, Social Science Research Council | Joanne Floyd, University of Utah | scispace.com The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness.

The Pratfall Effect | Everyday PsychThe Pratfall Effect - Everyday Psych

Why are we more inclined to make a bad choice after doing something good? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore moral licensing - the psychological effect where past "good" behaviour subconsciously gives us permission to act less ethically or responsibly later on.

Discover how small acts of virtue can quietly justify poor decisions, how we balance our actions like a mental scoreboard, and how important it is to recognise when you're using past choices to excuse present ones.

Studies and links:

Buying Green: Consumer Behavior | Ethics Unwrapped Buying Green: Consumer Behavior - Ethics Unwrapped

Do Green Products Make Us Better People? | Nina Mazar, Chen-Bo Zhong | University of Toronto | In Press at Psychological Science Green Products Psych Sci.pdf

Why do we assume that most people think the same way we do? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the false consensus effect - the cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate how much others share our beliefs, opinions and behaviours.

Discover how our own perspectives subtly become the "default" in our minds, how we expect agreement more often than reality delivers, and how recognising this bias can help you understand others more accurately and think beyond your own assumptions.

Studies and links:

The "False Consensus Effect": an Egocentric Bias in Social Perception and Attribution Processes | Lee Ross, David Greene and Pamela House | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 13 | bulidomics.com PII: 0022-1031(77)90049-X

False Consensus Effect: Definition and Examples | Simply Psychology False Consensus Effect: Definition and Examples

Why do we feel like everyone is watching us - even when they probably aren't? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the spotlight effect - the cognitive bias that makes us believe our actions, mistakes and appearance are being noticed far more than they actually are.

Discover how we overestimate how much attention others pay to us, how this illusion can fuel embarrassment and social anxiety, and how understanding it can help you feel freer to act without the constant fear of being judged.

Studies and links:

The Spotlight Effect in Social Judgment: An Egocentric Bias in Estimates of the Salience of One's Own Actions and Appearance   | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2000, Vol. 78, No. 2, 211-222 | Thomas Gilovich, Victoria Husted Medvec and Kenneth Savitsky | psychologyib.com amp78020211.tif

Why do we feel like we stand out more than we really do? | Decision Lab Spotlight effect - The Decision Lab

Why do our expectations so often become our reality? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the self‑fulfilling prophecy — the psychological phenomenon where beliefs and assumptions influence behaviour until they make themselves true.

Discover how expectations shape actions, why other people’s beliefs can affect your performance, and how changing your internal predictions can shift the outcomes you experience.

Studies and links:

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy In Psychology: Definition & Examples | Simply Psychology Self-Fulfilling Prophecy In Psychology: Definition & Examples

Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectation and Pupils' Intellectual Development | Western Kentucky University people.wku.edu/steve.groce/RosenthalJacobson-PygmalionintheClassroom.pdf

Why does one good trait make someone seem completely brilliant - while one flaw makes them seem entirely flawed? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the halo effect and the devil effect - the biases that cause a single impression to shape how we judge someone's entire character.

Discover how first impressions spill over into assumptions about intelligence and competence, and how to recognise when one standout trait is distorting your overall judgement.

Studies and links:

Reboot Foundation | Everything You Need To Know About The Halo Effect Everything You Need To Know About The Halo Effect | REBOOT FOUNDATION

Ideal Role | The Halo Effect - The power of first impressions The Halo Effect - The power of first impressions

Why do unfinished tasks stick in our minds long after we've stopped working on them? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Zeigarnik Effect - the psychological phenomenon where incomplete tasks are remembered more clearly than completed ones.

Discover why open loops create mental tension, how unfinished work captures your attention, and how to use this effect to stay motivated.

Studies and Links:

The Art of Sustainable Performance: The Zeigarnik Effect | Research Gate (PDF) The Art of Sustainable Performance: The Zeigarnik Effect

Zeigarnik Effect Examples in Psychology | Simply Psychology Zeigarnik Effect Examples in Psychology

Why does losing something hurt more than gaining the same thing feels good? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore loss aversion - the psychological bias that makes losses feel more powerful, painful and important than equivalent gains.

Discover how fear of loss shapes decision-making and behaviour; why we cling onto what we already have; and how to overcome this bias to get rid of old ideals and create space for improvement.

Studies and Links:

Why do we buy insurance? | The Decision Lab Loss Aversion - The Decision Lab

Why do we value items more if they belong to us? | The Decision Lab Endowment Effect - The Decision Lab

Why are we likely to continue with an investment even if it would be rational to give it up? | The Decision Lab The Sunk Cost Fallacy - The Decision Lab

Loss aversion in riskless choice: a reference-dependent model | Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman | Oxford University Press | UFL Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model

Why do we choose short-term rewards even when we know waiting would be better? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore temporal discounting - the tendency to value immediate rewards more highly than future ones, even when the future payoff is larger or wiser.

Discover how time distorts our judgement, and how understanding this bias can help you make decisions that you future self will actually thank you for.

Studies and links:

Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review | Shane Frederick, George Loewenstein and Ted O'Donoghue | Journal of Economic Literature Vol. XL | Carnegie Mellon University TimeDiscounting.pdf

Does the way information is presented change how we decide - even when the facts stay the same? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the framing effect - the cognitive bias that causes our choices to shift depending on whether something is framed as a gain or a loss.

Discover how wording steers our decisions, how identical options can feel compltetely different, and what to do to improve your judgement, so that you don't fall for the frame and start seeing reality.

Studies and links:

The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice | Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman Untitled

Framing Effect in Psychology | Simply Psychology Framing Effect In Psychology