Then you think of a pink elephant. Better to phrase everything positively right?
It all sounds very logical, yet a lot of people still fall into the "no trap," as on Feb. 5, 2014. Then the newspapers read, "Belgian King Philip is not a dictator.
A magazine featured an interview with an anonymous member of the staff of the Belgian royal family, and that staff member opened up about the king and all his rules.
The reaction of the royal family to the magazine was not so helpful, because in a press release they said that King Philip was not a dictator at all, and the press took it that way.
After all, what do you immediately think of when you think of King Philip? Belgium's royal family fell into the "non-fall trap" - and not alone.
In 1972, U.S. President Nixon won the election, while a year earlier the Democrats were still ahead. But all sorts of crazy things happened in that campaign.
Thus, the Republicans always knew what the Democrats' strategy would be, which not only drove theDemocrats to despair, they lost the election.
On June 17, 1972, at the Watergate Complex, the headquarters of the Democratic Party, five men were arrested for trying to plant wiretaps.
Through further research, it became increasingly clear that President Nixon had set this up, and so he was ousted as president in 1974.
A famous quote from Richard Nixon at the time was, "I'm not a crook. To understand that phrase, you need to know what crook means, namely crook. 'I am not a crook' Nixon said, and what do you think when you read that?
Exactly.
The Pink Elephant Principle is widely known. You probably know the phrase, "Don't think of a pink elephant. And yet everyone falls for it.
In fact, even our government is happily participating. A campaign "against tailgating" is not very useful, of course, because what do you immediately think of? Exactly, tailgating. Fortunately, here the government has chosen the slogan "Keep 2 seconds distance.
But things are far from going well. Many campaigners in government or at Sire fall into the "non-fall trap," believes social psychologist Reint Jan Renes, a lecturer at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences.
Those who reject negative behavior face several psychological processes. First, it already happens through priming, Renes says. With a slogan like "Don't become a sleeper driver," you activate the sleep register. At the bottom of the poster in question there was also "Zzzzzz," which causes people to yawn involuntarily. That - putting it mildly - is obviously not very convenient.
So what to do? Focus on what you do want!
Have a great weekend!
(Source: Break Your Freedom Book, available for order on bol.com ;-))
