Episode 041: The Psychology of Influence and Persuasion with Dr. Victoria Romero (1:10:58)

Rockstar (Bono of U2) in front of microphone, with the title "Psychology of Influence"

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Psychologically, why do we follow someone? In this interview, Dr. Victoria Romero helps us understand why and how we are persuaded and influenced, and what the psychological underpinnings are.

Dr. Victoria Romero is a researcher, consultant, and speaker in the areas of neuroscience and human behavior. She is the Chief Behavioral Scientist for CACI, where she focuses on using both social and data science to better understand information transfer and social influence.

IN THIS INTERVIEW

01:21 How Victoria got into her field
03:05 The intersection between marketing and national security
04:09 The psychological components of persuasion and influence
04:50 Categories
05:50 Types of ideas we encounter today
06:07 Generalization
06:58 Heuristics (aka Mental Shortcuts)
08:09 Car Accidents
09:09 How the news media really works, and how it doesn’t line up with reality at all
09:45 Fear of terrorist attacks vs. falling in your bath tub
10:26 Medical Errors vs Gun violence
11:34 Common biases (in and out groups)
14:06 You can’t get rid of biases
14:53 How we develop biases (the blank slate vs. the evolution of the ability to have biases)
16:40 Speaking and categorization
17:06 Emotion and influence and persuasion
18:24 How we actually make decisions
18:52 How to persuade purely on logic, reason, and thinking – but usually…
20:49 How we are persuaded emotionally
22:04 Does the brain buy into “fake news”? The answer will surprise you
23:50 The truth about fake news
24:41 The truth about memory in persuasion and influence (our own “fake news”)
28:42 Definition of Schemas (Mental Framework and Scripts; e.g., Restaurants and Political Parties)
31:57 Changing Schemas (e.g., perceptions of LGBTQ population over time)
33:41 Psychological identity
35:19 Individualism vs. collectivism
39:08 Moral foundations, values, and sacred values
47:06 Examples of highly effective persuasion and influence campaigns (e.g., Taking down the Marlboro Man)
48:00 If you want to make real change…
51:26 The Truth Campaign
53:10 How suggestible are you?
54:20 Age, suggestibility, and inhibition
56:00 You are more suggestible when…
56:34 How to think critically about information we encounter (“counter-heuristics”)
58:35 Have some grace with others, we’re more alike … in our brains
59:24 How to build a persuasion or influence campaign
1:02:00 Pro-Vaccination vs. Anti-vaccination
1:03:47 Victoria’s one secret of her success
1:05:04 Victoria’s greatest lesson
1:06:35 Victoria’s one piece of advice to the world
1:07:45 Victoria’s legacy

CONCEPTS TO GOOGLE

Heuristics
Biases
Availability Bias
In Groups / Out Groups
Cognitive Psychology
Confirmation Bias
Schemas
Individualism
Collectivism
Moral Foundation
Sacred Values
The Truth Campaign
Suggestibility
Tip of the tongue phenomenon

To connect with Dr. Victoria Romero

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriaromero/
Email: victoria.romero@caci.com

To connect with Mark Botros

https://markabotros.com
Instagram: @markabotros
Twitter: @markbotros
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessstrategist/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbotros/
Email: mark@markabotros.com
The LIFE WORKS Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-life-works-podcast/id1475582936

Podcast Music Credit

Track: Memories — INOSSI [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/GePAKPB6vQY
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/Memories

Photo Credit

Todd Poirier