Naive Realism

🧠 Psych - 39 / 100

Hello, there.

Today, We will be talking about the Naive Realism.

What is it?

As best described by Wikipedia,

In social psychology, naïve realism is the human tendency to believe that we see the world around us objectively, and that people who disagree with us must be uninformed, irrational, or biased.

Example -

You might have seen this meme which depicts what naive realism is:

Where does it occur?

It is part of our Innate nature and thus, it is part of cognitive psychological biases. As humans, this is yet another bias we may possess but will unsee it at times and situations.

Why do I need to know?

The good thing is that you can overcome this. The benefits of overcoming it are immense. It allows you to perceive situations and opinions in a different light, and, most importantly, it leads you to the path of increasing your feelings of empathy. 

By putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, you are able to vicariously experience what he or she sees. So the next time you think someone else’s opinion is wrong, put yourself in their shoes. Try to understand their thought process. Be empathetic. Overcome naïve realism. [1]

Takeaways:-

1. Accept new perspectives and try to see things from their point of view.

2. Naive Realism is common and overcoming it can have great effects.

References & Studies:-

1. https://web.colby.edu/cogblog/2017/04/17/naive-realism-our-misinterpretation-of-how-we-interpret-the-world/

2. https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Negotiation_and_Conflict_Management/Ross_Ward_Naive_Realism.pdf

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