Can 'surprise' work for social change?
Surprising someone -- whether it's by a joke or via a gasp-inducing plot twist of a book or movie -- can not only create a memorable experience, but also become a powerful tool for social influence, according to a study.
Surprises are memorable, able to garner attention and arouse emotion, but a less heralded effect is that they can serve to shift attitudes and provide an avenue to influence people, said Jeffrey Loewenstein, Professor at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois.
While many people think of surprise as an emotional expression, the study, published in the journal Topics in Cognitive Science, showed that surprise not only generates an emotional reaction, but is also "a push to learn, and an experience that people get excited to share with others".
"Put those things together and surprise becomes a powerful tool for social influence," Loewenstein said.
Moreover, surprise not only has individual effects on beliefs and attitudes, but also "collective effects on the content of culture", the researchers said.
"We're in an information-rich environment where our primary challenge is how to identify what to pay attention to. And surprise, which shatters expectations, is a signal that says 'Hey! Pay attention!'," the researchers added.
That surprise can lead to changing attitude and shifting preconceptions.
"Critically, there is a second effect because you are not only making one person more open, you are also making them your ambassador. You are likely to generate word of mouth as they share the surprising experience with others. Surprise is a force multiplier for communication," Loewenstein said.
What generates surprise need not be accidental or random. According to Loewenstein, there are predictable methods or patterns, such as the repetition-break structure, for generating surprise.
"Crafting surprises is something everyone can learn to do, and they will be more influential if they do," he noted.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
