The forces that shape usThe forces that shape us
All In The Mind
The hidden forces that shape our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. What if your name could predict your future career, your culture could influence your judgement of distance, or the physical appearance of your chess opponent could determine whether you win or lose?
28:50•11 Jan 2015
Hidden Influences: How Colours, Names and Symbols Steer Your Choices
Episode Overview
- Colour can subtly boost dominance and attractiveness, with robust evidence for the impact of wearing red.
- Simple, easy-to-pronounce names tend to be linked with better career and market outcomes.
- Unconscious stereotypes and symbols like the swastika can strongly alter judgement and punishment without our awareness.
- Access to nature, even through a small window view or indoor plants, can reduce pain and speed recovery.
- Use psychological research for major choices and simple habits, rather than trying to control every minor decision.
“The idea that I could paint a room a particular colour or put a swastika somewhere in the room and that would change how you would behave for the next 10 minutes is a pretty staggering idea.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This episode of All In The Mind zooms out from individual choices to the subtle forces that quietly steer them. It’s a smart listen if you’re wondering why you sometimes act against your own better judgement.
Host Lynne Malcolm talks with Adam Alter, professor of marketing and psychology at New York University and author of *Drunk Tank Pink*, about the "subconscious forces that shape how we think, feel and behave." Colour is a big one: athletes randomly assigned red in Olympic combat sports win about 60–65% of the time, and wearing red on a dating profile can give you "a small bonus, a small boost" in attractiveness. Names are another hidden nudge.
Alter explains that lawyers with simpler names are "9 or 10% more likely to become partners" and that company names that are easier to pronounce tend to perform better when they first hit the stock market. Even gendered-sounding names can affect women’s chances of becoming judges in a biased profession. The episode gets into unconscious stereotyping with the famous Hannah study and research showing people remember the same face differently depending on whether they’re told it’s white or black.
Symbols matter too: a briefly seen swastika can make people "much more punitive" when judging others’ behaviour. There’s also a walk through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how reflecting on childhood can make people "much more moral," plus striking evidence that a hospital window view of trees can cut pain medication use in half.
Alter is candid about problems in social psychology, especially flashy priming studies that fail to replicate, and argues for more careful science and practical use of only robust findings. His key advice? Save this knowledge for big decisions and simple tweaks—like choosing names, paint colours, and green spaces—rather than trying to micromanage every move. It all begs the question: what quiet influences are shaping your choices today, and which ones might you want to change?
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