The famous scientist Benjamin Franklin once said that “a father is a treasure, a brother is a comfort, a friend is both. “According to this phrase, it would be understandable if we made an extra effort to please our friends. Why do we often strive to please people we don’t like?Why is this curious phenomenon called the Ben Franklin effect?
The explanation comes from a very curious story, which we cannot fail to share, this narrative is based on a daily action, sometimes unconscious, that our brain performs to get rid of the discomfort that causes the dissonance or inconsistency between what we think and what we think. We’ll see!
- The origin of the Ben Franklin effect is really curious.
- Benjamin Franklin.
- Inventor of the lightning rod.
- Is known to have been one of the founders of the United States.
- But this important figure had a strong opponent in the Legislature.
- This formidable adversary had no problem publicly expressing his objections to the scientist’s political agenda.
- Both in public and in private.
This singular animosity has not gone unnoticed by Franklin and, moreover, he is deeply concerned, however, the way he wanted to solve it is curious, so he began to earn the trust of his opposing critic.
To do so, Franklin only thought of asking his opponent for a favor, and because he knew he was a high-level cultural person, he decided to commission an unusually rare copy of his private library, without Franklin being deeply interested in such work.
The adversary, faced with this request, was especially honored and flattered, so he was quick to respond. That’s how Franklin beat his opponent, giving way first to a rapprochement and then to a friendship for life.
“Take the time to choose a friend, but take even more time to change it. -Benjamin Franklin-
While this unique story gave rise to the name of the Ben Franklin effect, the truth is that it hides a deep psychological basis, so behind this very human need to please, in fact, is cognitive dissonance justified?Or rather, it is motivated by an interest in preventing such dissonance from occurring.
In other words, what Franklin does with his request is to provoke a contradiction in his opponent: on the one hand, they are powerful political opponents, on the other, he can do him a favor, but the situation itself is not contradictory. Franklin’s opponent is likely to perceive a certain contradiction: a sense of political antipathy towards an understanding way of acting.
The perception of such a contradiction tends to cause discomfort, so the person tends to readjust his way of thinking, this is exactly what Franklin’s opponent did, probably also because the value of his behavior (that of lending the book) had greater social and personal value. desyability than politically motivated animosity.
Then, one way or another, Franklin’s opponent, to justify his generosity, had to change his mind about him; on the other hand, this new perspective certainly facilitated the beginning of a friendship that would then be consolidated.
Apparently, our brain is trying to justify our actions and it does so by trying not to damage our image of ourselves, is this fact that brings out cognitive dissonance, then we take steps to make it disappear, for example, in a war conflict?which is known to be unjustifiable, but which at the same time is involved (even with the complicity of silence), our mind seeks the reasons that justify our position. These reasons may be related to the defense of freedom, patriotism, or even religion.
On the other hand, the reasons or news that may justify our position from this moment on will be more encouraging, attract our attention and we will keep them easier in our memory. As you can see, cognitive dissonance is part of our professional and personal level, in many situations we face the justification of acts with which we do not agree.
In fact, it’s very likely that you’ve worked with people you don’t like or who have been kind enough to help someone you don’t like, in any case your mind will activate mechanisms to explain and justify this action. So, chances are, after doing someone a favor, you have a better opinion about them than before.
“Give money to your enemy and you will earn it; lend to your friend and you will lose. “
The way our mind works is curious. It is about protecting the image we have of ourselves and the coherence between our thoughts and actions by changing our opinions, and this phenomenon does not end there, since once the justification or the new opinion is produced we will be more sensitive to all. types of information that underpin it and more skeptical of any phenomenon that opposes it.