Drunk Tank Pink

And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave

Penguin Press, 2013

15 min read

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Even if you don’t know it, subtle forces influence your thoughts, feelings and behavior.

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When prison officials learned that a certain shade of pink soothed aggression, they painted holding cells that happy hue. The pink cells reduced violence and calmed agitated inmates – offering just one example of the external forces that affect how you think, act and feel. As social psychologist and author Adam Alter explains, “Your mind is the collective end point of a billion tiny butterfly effects.” Alter loses momentum describing multiple social psychology research studies. However, he does a better job exploring how some hidden influences steer people toward better decisions. If you want to know how these forces affect you, getAbstract believes Alter can grant you greater control over your destiny – or, at least, over the color of your office.

Summary

“Drunk Tank Pink”

A study measured young men’s level of strength after they stared at either a blue piece of cardboard or a pink one. In almost every case, looking at the color pink sapped their strength and soothed their aggressive tendencies. This phenomenon captured the imagination of teachers, police officers, football coaches and parents. Prison officials at the US Naval Correctional Center in Seattle, Washington, painted their jail’s holding cells bright pink. They found that the pink walls calmed agitated prisoners and reduced incidents of violence. Soon, jailers throughout the US were painting cells Drunk Tank Pink. In public housing developments, pink halls curbed violence and reduced vandalism. Athletic officials passed regulations forbidding coaches from painting visiting teams’ locker rooms pink in order to weaken their opponents.

Researchers produced further levels of support for the Drunk Tank Pink theory’s original results. Regardless of how much power pink has, these experiments clarified that a variety of subliminal forces shape much of what people think, feel and do. These subtle forces, which psychologists call “cues,” fall into three categories. ...

About the Author

Adam Alter is a doctor of social psychology, a lecturer and assistant professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Adam Alter

Drunk Tank Pink

And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave

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“Drunk Tank Pink”

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