{"id":3304,"date":"2017-04-17T23:57:59","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T03:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/?p=3304"},"modified":"2017-09-06T13:05:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T17:05:04","slug":"no-one-ever-understands-me-ah-yes-the-illusion-of-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/2017\/04\/17\/no-one-ever-understands-me-ah-yes-the-illusion-of-transparency\/","title":{"rendered":"No One Ever Understands Me! Ah, yes – The Illusion of Transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your world is collapsing. Okay no it\u2019s not, but you are extremely stressed, sad, and worried. Do you ever wonder why no one seems to care that you\u2019re feeling these things, or wish that someone would only ask if you\u2019re okay? We all feel like this sometimes! But see, everybody else is not the problem. It\u2019s not that people don\u2019t care or don\u2019t want to help (most likely); it\u2019s just simply the fact that they may not even know you\u2019re feeling like this. Think about the last time you gave a presentation in one of your classes or to a group of people. You\u2019re standing up there, fidgeting, sweating, and you feel like your thoughts are jumbled and that your speech reflects that. You look into the crowd and see a girl twirling her hair \u2013\u00a0I must look like an idiot<\/em>. You see someone else staring right at you and smiling \u2013\u00a0I must sound so\u00a0stupid that he can\u2019t help but stare directly at me.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>False! The girl is just bored and the boy is trying to show\u00a0the teacher that he\u2019s paying attention \u2013 so stop sweating and remain calm, you\u2019re fine. These feelings are not out of the ordinary, in fact, they\u2019re quite normal, and they can be attributed to the illusion of transparency.<\/p>\n

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That feeling when no one understands you…<\/p><\/div>\n

The illusion of transparency is the tendency to believe that one\u2019s internal states are more obvious to others than they actually are. We believe that the outside world can see and understand what we\u2019re feeling and thinking, because we feel like we show our feelings, thoughts and emotions explicitly. However in reality, we overestimate the extent to which other people can tell what\u2019s really going on inside our heads or what we\u2019re trying to say. To test the\u00a0theory out for yourself, watch\u00a0this<\/a>\u00a0video to see if you can guess the song behind the rhythm! Or, to learn more about this illusion (after you\u2019ve finished reading this post, of course), check out this other awesome post<\/a> from the CogBlog! Additionally, many studies have been conducted that aim to look at why this happens, and to see if this illusion actually holds true when tested.<\/p>\n

One Does Not Simply Make a Claim with No Evidence…<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Let\u2019s look at it through the lens of mental processes during language use. Mental processes, also known as cognitive functions, can be defined as everything that an individual does with their mind, such as perception, memory, and thinking. When people speak, they first formulate a message they want to convey, translate this message into a linguistic form (any meaningful unit of speech) and then they end with creating a plan for articulation (they speak) (as cited in Keysar, B., Barr, D. J., & Horton, W. S., 1998). Horton and Keysar (1996) considered two possible models when discussing this. First, they discussed the optimal design model, which states that speakers format their utterances and their language use so that their meaning is clear. The second model they discussed was a monitoring-and-adjustment model, in which speakers first plan their verbalizations egocentrically, without considering the perspectives of the people they\u2019re talking to. Then, speakers will monitor their plans by trying to find the egocentric ones they\u2019ve made. Egocentric plans for speaking are the plans that would rely on information unavailable to the person you are talking to in order for him or her to understand what you are saying. If an egocentric plan is found, the speaker adjusts their plan accordingly. After testing these theories, it was found that under pressure (limited time or a high stakes discussion), the illusion of transparency is seen.<\/p>\n

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We’ve all wondered this at some point!<\/p><\/div>\n

With pressure, speakers don\u2019t have the time and cognitive resources to monitor and adjust their statements, so they speak through an egocentric lens in which the other person cannot understand, although the speaker may think they will understand (Keysar et. al, 1998). Another way to say this is that speakers fall back on their own context (they talk egocentrically), regardless of whether the information is mutually shared and mutually understandable. For example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re on the women\u2019s basketball team in college, and you and your teammates are having dinner with the new freshmen for the first time. You want to make a good impression (you\u2019re under pressure), so when you talk to the freshmen you don\u2019t realize that they most likely don\u2019t understand why Sharpay from your cognitive psychology class doesn\u2019t deserve to date the hot senior, Troy, on the men\u2019s basketball team. You just talk to the freshmen like they just know whom Sharpay and Troy are, when in reality they don\u2019t and therefore don\u2019t understand the meaning of the conversation; you\u2019re talking egocentrically. This result helps to tie language to the illusion of transparency because of the way we formulate our speech. Because we often formulate our speech egocentrically, we often fall victim to the illusion of transparency \u2013 people can\u2019t just assume what we mean. Just think of an argument you got into with a friend or a significant other in the past. You or the other person has definitely said something along the lines of \u201cI assumed you knew how I felt!\u201d This reasoning mentioned above is behind the fault in that statement.<\/p>\n

Can the illusion of transparency affect our relationships in other ways too? Why yes, it can! Have you ever told a lie and just\u00a0\u201cknew\u201d<\/em>\u00a0that the person you lied to knows that you weren\u2019t telling the truth? It\u2019s okay; you don\u2019t have to lie to yourself about a time you lied! Let\u2019s say you have a study buddy for your cognitive psychology class, and you study every week together. But then, he or she asks you out on a date when you really don\u2019t feel that way about them. So you lie and say that you just \u201cdon\u2019t have time to date right now.\u201d You leave the conversation and immediately know that the look on your face and the explanation you gave and your outward appearance gave away your lie. But wait, did it actually?<\/p>\n

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Buddy the Elf knows!<\/p><\/div>\n

In one study, researchers examined the illusion of transparency and how it ties into lies. Through two experiments, it was found that people have some ability to recognize lies, that they may overestimate this ability, and that participants overestimated the extent to which their own lies were easy to detect (Rai, Mitchelll & Faelling, 2012). Basically, the results from this study concluded that people typically think that it is easier to detect when somebody is telling a lie than it actually is. So don\u2019t worry for now, your study buddy probably couldn\u2019t tell that you were lying to them! In the second experiment, it was found that a listener often knew that a speaker was lying, but not as much as the speaker thought they would. I know, you are now worried again about your study buddy! Although people can often realize that they experience\u00a0doubt when hearing a lie, they overestimate how easy it actually is to detect lies. When people lie, it was shown that they sometimes think their lies are more explicit than they really are. So, although there is some illusion of transparency in lying, be sure to tread through dishonesty waters carefully!<\/p>\n

You Gon\u2019 Learn Today: What the Illusion of Transparency Can Teach You<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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There are definitely some useful takeaways that we can learn from the illusion of transparency that we can apply to our everyday lives. First, communication is key. If this blog post taught you anything, it\u2019s that we cannot assume that other people know what we are trying to say or what we are feeling.<\/p>\n

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Be a mule, not an ass!<\/p><\/div>\n

Here\u2019s the thing; people can be really ignorant when it comes to understanding others. Most of the day-to-day tiffs and even bigger arguments we have with other people occur because there is a lack of communication. The illusion of transparency communicates the idea well \u2013 people are not that great at understanding the inner feelings, attitudes and thoughts of others! So just be upfront. Second, don\u2019t lie! Remember, the illusion of transparency works both ways for lying in that 1. You think your lies are easier to detect than they actually are, but<\/em> 2. Although overestimated, people do have some ability to realize when they are hearing a lie. So be careful, and just remember that the truth is the best route. Lastly, when giving a speech, remember\u00a0to relax! You often have an exaggerated sense of how obvious your nervousness is to the audience. It was found that when an audience was surveyed, the speaker’s emotions were not as evident to the audience as the speaker thought they were (Savitsky, & Gilovich, 2003). If you want to learn more about this study, and why you shouldn\u2019t be that nervous to speak in public, click here<\/a>. But for now, just try to be as cool as a cucumber!<\/p>\n

Hopefully by this point, you\u2019ve learned a sufficient amount about the illusion of transparency. I\u2019m definitely going to assume that you have regardless of actually knowing if you have, though (wink, wink).<\/p>\n

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References<\/p>\n

Gilovich, T., & Savitsky, K. (1999). The spotlight effect and the illusion of\u00a0transparency: Egocentric assessments of how we are seen by others.\u00a0Current Directions In Psychological Science<\/em>,\u00a08<\/em>(6), 165-168. doi:10.1111\/1467-8721.00039<\/p>\n

Keysar, B., Barr, D. J., & Horton, W. S. (1998). The egocentric basis of language\u00a0use: Insights from a processing approach.\u00a0Current Directions In Psychological Science<\/em>,\u00a07<\/em>(2), 46-50. doi:10.1111\/1467-8721.ep13175613<\/p>\n

Keysar, B., Lin, S., & Barr, D. J. (2003). Limits on theory of mind use in adults.\u00a0Cognition<\/em>,\u00a089<\/em>(1), 25-41. doi:10.1016\/S0010-0277(03)00064-7<\/p>\n

Rai, R., Mitchell, P., & Faelling, J. (2012). The illusion-of-transparency and\u00a0episodic memory: Are people egocentric or do people think that lies are easy to detect?.\u00a0Psychological Studies<\/em>,\u00a057<\/em>(1), 58-66. doi:10.1007\/s12646-011-0138-2<\/p>\n

Savitsky, & Gilovich, (2003). The illusion of transparency and\u00a0the alleviation of speech anxiety.\u00a0Journal of Experimental Social Psychology<\/em>.\u00a039<\/em>\u00a0(6): 618\u2013625. doi:10.1016\/s0022-1031(03)00056-8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your world is collapsing. Okay no it\u2019s not, but you are extremely stressed, sad, and worried. Do you ever wonder why no one seems to care that you\u2019re feeling these things, or wish that someone would only ask if you\u2019re okay? We all feel like this sometimes! But see, everybody else is not the problem. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[266316,130416,80217,80215],"tags":[117417,877,150430],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3304"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3454,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304\/revisions\/3454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}