"The brain 'offloads' its normal calculations if faced with an authoritative figure because claims of expertise were found to suppress activity in the neural circuit linked to decision-making," Caroline Gammell reports in The Daily Telegraph. "It means that people who make decisions after speaking to a financial adviser or a bank manager may be helpless to avoid following their lead. The research, published in the Public Library of Science One, studied the brains of 24 volunteers who were asked to make several financial choices. ... When the volunteers were advised to follow a certain course of action, they tended to follow that advice, even if it was not the best solution. Brain activity was notably different on the occasions a person received an 'expert opinion' and when they made a decision on their own. Author of the study Gregory Berns, a professor of neuroeconomics and psychiatry at Emory University in Atlanta, said: 'This study indicates that the brain relinquishes responsibility when a trusted authority provides expertise.' "
Source: GlobeandMail Social Studies March 26th 2009
1 comment:
I'd have to include "advice from people you look up to" to that. Or maybe it's just me, but I find myself generally deferring to the opinions of people i look up to / see as wiser like the way it's mentioned here xD
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