98. When People Are Uncertain, They Let Others Decide What To Do

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Uncertainty Tips The Scale

When we are faced with a dilemma on what to do we tend to ask others for their opinions or research others experiences to help us make a decision. The chances of us doing the complete opposite of what we see others would do are highly unlikely.

Research Study

Bibb Latane and John Darley in 1970 set up a scenario to see if a person would let others' behaviors influence theirs. Participants in the research would be placed in a room to fill out a decoy survey. Smoke then started to fill the room with the participant. When the participant was alone, he or she would leave the room and when there were multiple people around who did not move, the participant would stay. Below is a clip of the study.

The smoke filled room study (Enclavar)

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Takeaways

People let others' opinions and behaviors influence them when they are uncertain.