87 Abilene Paradox
Four relatives sit on a Texas porch in blistering heat. Someone suggests driving 53 miles to Abilene for dinner. Nobody really wants to go, but each, fearing disapproval, says “sounds good.” They endure the hot, dusty trip and a mediocre meal, only to discover afterward that none of them actually desired the outing. The paradox illustrates collective misperception: individuals privately oppose an action yet publicly support it because they assume (wrongly) that everyone else favours it. Unlike explicit conformity or coercive “groupthink,” Abilene episodes stem from false consensus and inadequate communication. Decision-making workshops now teach “Abilene checks,” encouraging dissent and candid preference polling before costly choices are locked in.
88 Paradox of Choice
Supermarkets offer 50 salad dressings; online retailers list thousands of laptops. Classical economics predicts welfare rises with variety, yet experiments show that beyond a moderate number, additional options lower satisfaction and can freeze decision-making. Consumers fear regret, overthink trade-offs, and later second-guess the choice they did make. This paradox fuels theories of bounded rationality and has practical design implications: curated menus, default settings, and recommendation engines help tame choice overload.
89 Hedonic Treadmill
Lottery winners report a surge of happiness that fades within months; accident victims often rebound to pre-injury mood. Humans adapt emotionally to positive or negative changes, returning toward a baseline—a treadmill that keeps overall happiness level even as external conditions improve. The paradox challenges material-growth philosophies and redirects well-being research toward purpose, relationships, and experiences—domains where adaptation is slower and enduring satisfaction can accumulate.
90 Cognitive Dissonance
A person who endures pain to join an exclusive club later values the club more highly than outsiders do—a reversal predicted by dissonance theory. Holding two inconsistent cognitions (“I suffered” vs “the club is mediocre”) creates mental discomfort; one way to relieve it is to inflate the club’s worth. The paradox shows that justification can shape preference, not merely follow from it, turning common-sense “attitudes drive actions” upside-down in many contexts (initiation rites, sunk-cost bias, post-purchase rationalisation).
91 Paradoxical Intention
In insomnia therapy, patients are asked to try to stay awake as long as possible. The deliberate attempt to avoid sleep often relaxes performance anxiety and leads to faster sleep onset. Viktor Frankl coined the term: when fear or pressure exacerbates a symptom, doing the opposite can break the cycle. Techniques derived from paradoxical intention are used for stuttering, public-speaking anxiety, and obsessive thoughts.
92 Yerkes–Dodson Paradox
Performance on tasks rises with arousal up to an optimum and then declines—producing the famous inverted-U. Mild stress sharpens focus; excessive stress triggers overload and errors. The paradox reconciles why stimulants or modest deadlines can boost productivity while chronic high pressure impairs it. Applied fields (sports coaching, workplace ergonomics, human-factors engineering) calibrate environments to sit near—but not beyond—the peak of the Yerkes–Dodson curve.
93 Coolidge Effect
Male rodents presented with the same receptive female show waning sexual interest; introduce a novel female, and arousal rebounds instantly. The effect, replicated across many species, suggests an evolutionary payoff for variety in partners to maximise genetic spread. It paradoxically coexists with long-term pair-bonding instincts in humans, informing debates on sexual habituation, pornography’s impact, and the biology behind “honeymoon-phase” decline.
94 Paradox of Suspense
Why do rereadings of mystery novels or re-watchings of thrillers still raise heart rate and suspense, even though the outcome is known? Cognitive theorists propose ostensible ignorance: audiences temporarily bracket their knowledge, or emotional response operates on separate tracks from factual memory. Neuroscience shows anticipatory circuits can fire despite explicit recall, revealing a layered architecture of expectation and affect.
95 Forer/Barnum Effect
After filling out a vague personality test, most people rate generic feedback (“You sometimes doubt your decisions but value honesty”) as “highly accurate.” The paradox arises because statements combine positive tone, social desirability, and double-sided qualifiers compatible with almost anyone. Astrology, fortune telling, and some psychometric scams exploit the effect; recognising it underpins critical-thinking curricula and responsible psychological assessment.
96 Zeigarnik Effect
Interrupted tasks stay “active” in memory, gnawing for completion, whereas finished tasks fade. Bluma Zeigarnik’s 1927 café-waiter study found servers recalled open orders but forgot settled ones. The effect explains ear-worm songs, cliff-hanger television, and why people create to-do lists for mental relief. Modern productivity systems (e.g., “Getting Things Done”) harness this by externalising unfinished items to clear cognitive load.
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