WHOM EVER SAID – IT ALL RELATIVE – WAS RIGHT Behavioural economist and Duke University academic Dan Ariely carried out a study in which respondents were initially shown two symmetrical faces (A and B) and asked which one they preferred. The responses were – 50/50 with no difference in total preferences. When the sample was […]

WHOM EVER SAID – IT ALL RELATIVE – WAS RIGHT Behavioural economist and Duke University academic Dan Ariely carried out a study in which respondents were initially shown two symmetrical faces (A and B) and asked which one they preferred. The responses were – 50/50 with no difference in total preferences. When the sample was shown a third face – an asymmetrical version of face A – the findings were very different. Some 75% of respondents now preferred the symmetrical version of face A with 25% preferring face B. This finding demonstrates two things that have been replicated time and again in research: Symmetrical faces are preferred over a symmetrical faces, with symmetry a proven measure of beauty. When comparisons can be made, they will be made – and decision making will become relative. Relativity is one of 25 drivers of human behaviour I will address over the next five…