Psychologically, why do we follow someone? In this interview, Dr. Victoria Romero helps us understand why and how we are persuaded and influenced, and what the psychological underpinnings are.

Dr. Victoria Romero is a researcher, consultant, and speaker in the areas of neuroscience and human behavior. She is the Chief Behavioral Scientist for CACI, where she focuses on using both social and data science to better understand information transfer and social influence.

IN THIS INTERVIEW

01:21 How Victoria got into her field03:05 The intersection between marketing and national security04:09 The psychological components of persuasion and influence04:50 Categories05:50 Types of ideas we encounter today06:07 Generalization06:58 Heuristics (aka Mental Shortcuts)08:09 Car Accidents09:09 How the news media really works, and how it doesn’t line up with reality at all09:45 Fear of terrorist attacks vs. falling in your bath tub10:26 Medical Errors vs Gun violence11:34 Common biases (in and out groups)14:06 You can’t get rid of biases14:53 How we develop biases (the blank slate vs. the evolution of the ability to have biases)16:40 Speaking and categorization17:06 Emotion and influence and persuasion18:24 How we actually make decisions18:52 How to persuade purely on logic, reason, and thinking – but usually…20:49 How we are persuaded emotionally22:04 Does the brain buy into “fake news”? The answer will surprise you23:50 The truth about fake news24:41 The truth about memory in persuasion and influence (our own “fake news”)28:42 Definition of Schemas (Mental Framework and Scripts; e.g., Restaurants and Political Parties)31:57 Changing Schemas (e.g., perceptions of LGBTQ population over time)33:41 Psychological identity35:19 Individualism vs. collectivism39:08 Moral foundations, values, and sacred values47:06 Examples of highly effective persuasion and influence campaigns (e.g., Taking down the Marlboro Man)48:00 If you want to make real change…51:26 The Truth Campaign53:10 How suggestible are you?54:20 Age, suggestibility, and inhibition56:00 You are more suggestible when…56:34 How to think critically about information we encounter (“counter-heuristics”)58:35 Have some grace with others, we’re more alike … in our brains59:24 How to build a persuasion or influence campaign1:02:00 Pro-Vaccination vs. Anti-vaccination1:03:47 Victoria’s one secret of her success1:05:04 Victoria’s greatest lesson1:06:35 Victoria’s one piece of advice to the world1:07:45 Victoria’s legacy

CONCEPTS TO GOOGLE

HeuristicsBiasesAvailability BiasIn Groups / Out GroupsCognitive PsychologyConfirmation BiasSchemasIndividualismCollectivismMoral FoundationSacred ValuesThe Truth CampaignSuggestibilityTip of the tongue phenomenon

To connect with Dr. Victoria Romero

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriaromero/Email: [email protected]

To connect with Mark Botros

https://markabotros.comInstagram: @markabotrosTwitter: @markbotrosFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessstrategist/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbotros/Email: [email protected] LIFE WORKS Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-life-works-podcast/id1475582936

Podcast Music Credit

Track: Memories — INOSSI [Audio Library Release]Music provided by Audio Library PlusWatch: https://youtu.be/GePAKPB6vQYFree Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/Memories

Photo Credit

Todd Poirier