Book Titles

…once uncertainty is removed and witnesses are convinced an emergency situation exists, aid is very likely.

…when the need for emergency aid is unclear, even genuine victims are unlikely to be helped in a crowd.

…your best strategy when in need of emergency help is to reduce the uncertainties of those around you concerning your condition and their responsibilities. Be precise as possible about your need for aid.

…when people are unsure, they are more likely to use others’ actions to decide how they themselves should act.

Experiments show that the use of fabricated merriment leads audiences to laugh more frequently and longer, as well as to rate humorous material funnier.

If we see a lot of other people doing something, it doesn’t just mean it’s probably a good idea. It also means we could probably do it too.

When it comes to group dynamics, there’s an old saying that gets it right: ‘To get along, you have to go along.’

These twin needs – to foster social acceptance and to escape social rejection – help explain why cults can be so effective in recruiting and retaining members.

…most of the time, we don’t want to guard against the information that social proof provides.

If we can become sensitive to situations in which the social-proof autopilot is working with inaccurate information, we can disengage the mechanism and grasp the controls when necessary.