Stanley Schachter: 3 ideas worth knowing

3 ideas from Stanley Schachter, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

When a cult's prophecy fails, believers get more devoted, not less
In 1954, Leon Festinger infiltrated a group that believed the world would end on a specific date. When the date passed uneventfully, the group didn't abandon its belief — it recrui…
— Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken & Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails
Who you became friends with was decided by which door you happened to live near
In a 1950 study of a postwar student housing complex, Festinger, Schachter and Back mapped friendships and found physical distance mattered more than shared interests: people two d…
— Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, Kurt Back, Social Pressures in Informal Groups
A doomsday cult's failed prophecy made believers more devoted
When a Chicago group predicted the world would end and it didn't, psychologist Leon Festinger had infiltrated them to watch what happened next. Instead of admitting error, members …
— Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails

Five ideas worth knowing, every week