More To That
The Small Things Are Big Windows Into Who You Are
It’s the tiny actions in life that ultimately matter
In 1966, psychologists Jonathan Freedman and Scott Fraser published a bewildering study.
They reported the results of an experiment they conducted in a California neighborhood, where a researcher, posing as a volunteer worker, went door-to-door to make a ridiculous request of homeowners.
The researcher asked each homeowner if a sign could be installed on their precious front lawn. Its purpose was a noble one: It would remind people in the area to drive carefully.
To give homeowners an idea of how the sign would look, the researcher showed them a photograph of it. But the photo quickly revealed two things:
- The sign was fucking huge, and
- It was absolutely hideous.
When this experiment was run in other neighborhoods, they got the results you would expect. The vast majority of residents (83%) declined the request.
