Jolting you awake out of your bubble and into the fray

One instance where strangers are more likely to notice and respond to my nametag is when I stick a newly written, fresh sticker on my shirt.

Like clockwork, the response rate increases.

Even people walking past me down a crowded street during rush hour will say hello or, better yet, stop to remind me that the nametag is still on.

The most common warning people give me is, just thought you should know.

How nice of them!

My only guess as to why this happens with a fresh tag versus a more crumpled, worn down tag, is recency.

Follow the logic with me.

The more pristine the tag, the less time I’ve been wearing it, which means whatever event required me to do so has ended, and I’ve simply forgotten to take it off.

Isn’t it fascinating how even the slightest change in variable can have a significant effect on human behavior?

Social psychologists would attribute this exchange to something called the recency effect, which states that more recent information is better remembered and receives greater weight in forming a judgment than does the earlier presented information.

It’s all impression formation. Selective attention. The illusion of frequency.

People who see my nametag have the belief that this thing they have noticed only recently, is in fact recent.

But on the other hand, all of my insights could be false. The data is clearly skewed. When you live your life as a constant social experiment, and you’re both the scientist and the test subject, there’s no way it doesn’t mess with your brain.

Do you know what the first official recorded social experiment was?

This is pretty cool.

Triplett, the pioneering sports psychologist, conducted a study in the late eighteen hundreds about a phenomenon called social facilitation. What he found was, children manage to ride their bicycles faster when in the presence of a counterpart, rather than just riding than themselves.

According to the research, this field social experiment proved to be efficient because it reflected real life, due to its natural setting.

That’s why wearing a nametag is such a funky adventure for me. Not only does it reflect real life, it is real life.

The data is definitely biased, and it’s impossible to tell where the study ends and where the study begins.

But it certain keeps life interesting.

All it takes is a stranger on the street jolting you awake out of your bubble and into the fray.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What social experiment would you be willing to try for a week?