Contrast effect

THE CONTRAST EFFECT

By Ludivine Mayala | BIMB 2020-2021

What do you see ?

[pic 1]

Two small squares in two big squares, right ?

In your view, the small square on your right is lightest than the one on your left.

But actually the color is the same for the both. Only the background color change.

This is the contrast effect !

But what is this ?[pic 2]

First, the contrast effect belong to cognitive bias, a thinking mechanism which provoke a deterioration of our judgement and perception. With this effect we have a tendency to compare something to another, by highlighting the differences between them. This comparison can be implicit or explicit, simultaneous or deferred in time. You can apply it on multiple traits, such as physical qualities (colors or taste), abstract qualities (price or attractiveness). The contrast effect play in different situations a wide role.

When people experience it ?

First of all, I will present you some examples in the real life.

On Tinder, sometimes people turn on the research of people with the same sexe of them. In this case, a few people feel more attractive after they looked photos of people less attractive to them.

In a class, students can feel less confident in relation to their academic skills when they are in class where there is a lot of high-performing students. In the opposite case, some students feel better in a subject when around them there are people who have quite low performance.

We also experienced it in the social domain. Indeed, we called that the hedonic contract effect. Around us we have to have someone who is better or less good than us. We tend to compare ourselves between them for improve or said «I am not too bad». This relationship raise our self-esteem or help to fix new aims. It is a need to feel stronger even if we look like an asshole or a selfish.

Positive and Negative aspects of the contrast effect

There are two mains types of this effect which work in some cases :

• Positive contrasts effects

When something is perceived as «better» than it would usually be perceived, indeed, it is compared to something «worse».

• Negative contrasts effects

When something is perceived as «worse» than it would usually be perceived, indeed, it is compared to something «better»

This categories can only work on traits of factors which are assessable as «better» and «worse». For example, attractiveness, intelligence or the price of a product.

Why people experience it ?

Our brain works with a cognitive system which uses comparisons intuitively to process and evaluate information even if it’s not beneficial for us. The contrast effect is not a single mechanism. When an expensive product seems affordable it’s because we use our memory or similar object that more expensive than the current product.

...