User:SEpsych309/The Folk Wisdom Illusion

Folk Wisdom Illusion is the phenomenon in which a specific behavior can be explained with a folk wisdom. What is not noted often times is that most folk wisdoms have opposites. This is the illusion aspect.

Someone who is under the folk wisdom illusion will attribute his or her behavior to a specific folk wisdom but ignore the opposite folk wisdom. In doing so, advice and actions that don't rationalize our own behaviors or beliefs tend to be over looked. Using folk wisdoms is situational and we usually switch folk wisdoms based on our beliefs at the time.

Why do we use the folk wisdom illusion
In an article by Outi Lauhakangas, seven reasons why we tend to use folk wisdoms are discussed in detail. The reasons have two sides to them, since as stated above, most folk wisdoms have an opposite. These seven reasons include: unexpectedness and predictability, risk taking and Safety, detachment and familiarity, relieving situations and making them worse, expressing difference of opinion and uniform ways of thinking, maintenance face saving in violation of social hierarchy and maintaing control, and identity of a community and internationality. A further explanation of these seven uses is necessary.

Unexpectedness and Predictability
There are many ways to interpret folk wisdoms therefore based on the situation or context, a folk wisdom is used to “give an implicit impression of truth”. A folk wisdom can be used in order to justify an unexpected situation. However what many people fail to acknowledge is the unexpected situation could be unjustified with the opposite folk wisdom. This justification of an unexpected situation can be attributed to our constant need for an explanation. Proverbs however can be used in predictable situations because of the tradition that comes with them.

Taking risks and Safety
Folk wisdoms are also commonly used to justify risk taking. Because the risk taker can most likely find a folk wisdom that justifies the risk being made, it is likely that folk wisdoms are used to explain these risks. However, as stated above, many people fail to acknowledge the contradictory folk wisdom, and therefore the risk taker may not actually be in the right. Even though folk wisdoms can be used to justify risk taking, they can also be used to justify why one may take a more traditional approach because proverbs have been used for a long time.

Detachement and Familiarity
Folk wisdoms bring neutrality into a situation. For example if one were to be discussing a touchy subject, it would be easier to use folk wisdoms since it is the "voice of a third party" rather than what you have said. Because there are opposites to every folk wisdom, the validity of the folk wisdom is usually based on how familiar the folk wisdom is to the situation of the listener. For example, if one were to hear a folk wisdom used to justify something that hits close to home, the listener is more likely to accept the folk wisdom as truth, without any opposition. However, the more distant the folk wisdom is from the listeners situation, the more likely the listener is to find an opposing folk wisdom that validates his or her situation.

Uniform Way of Thinking and Difference of Opinions
By using Folk Wisdoms people can create a uniform way of thinking if people agree on the folk wisdoms, however they can also create difference of opinion if people disagree on the folk wisdom. People who don't come to the same conclusion as the folk wisdom being used are often times excluded. For example, if a community was trying to justify a decision with "the early bird gets the worm", people who don't come to the same conclusion and want to use the strategy "good things come to those who wait" may be excluded from the community.

Identity of a Community and Internationality
Going along with uniform way of thinking, proverbs can be used to strengthen a community and also can make many communities come together. Proverbs are mostly international so they can be used to make cultures seem more a like.

Relieving Situations and Making Worse of a Situation
Folk Wisdoms can be used to lighten or relieve a situation through humor however they can also make situations worse by validating narrow mindedness and stereotypes

Saving face and Control
Many times folk wisdoms are used in order to save one’s reputation. When social hierarchy is violated, a folk wisdom is commonly used in order to justify this violation. However, this justification is not entirely valid since there is an opposite folk wisdom that will leave the violation unjustified. Folk wisdoms can also be used to maintain control within a hierarchy.

Examples
An example of the folk wisdom illusion could be seen when someone uses a folk wisdom in order to justify his or her recent break up. If, for example, the break up is due to distance, a common folk wisdom that would explain the break up would be "out of sight, out of mind". The person who was recently dumped may use this in order to explain the situation at hand, however, will tend to over look the opposite folk wisdom "distance makes the heart grow fonder". Because the folk wisdom "out of sight, out of mind" fits the person's, who is being dumped, situation, it is more common for them to use that folk wisdom to explain the situation.

In staying consistent with examples in relationships, another example of the folk wisdom illusion is using the proverb “opposites attract” to justify why one likes his or her significant other. What that person fails to realize is there is a contradictory statement to that proverb such as, “birds of a feather flock together”. Both of these folk wisdoms are perfectly reasonable, however based on the situation and experience of the specific person, only one is used. If the person knows that they are very different from their significant other, he or she will most likely use the former proverb. If the person knows he or she is very similar to the significant other, he or she will commonly use the latter proverb.

Folk Wisdoms and the Opposites
1a. you're never too old to learn, 1b. you can't teach an old dog new tricks

2a. Absence makes the heart grow stronger, 2b. Out of sight, out of mind

3a. Doubt is the beginning of wisdom, 3b. faith will move mountains

4a. Do it well or not at all, 4b. Half a loaf is better than none

5a. Look before you leap, 5b. Strike while the iron is hot

6a. Wise men think alike, 6b. Fools seldom differ

7a. The pen is mightier than the sword, 7b. Actions speak louder than words

8a. All good things come to those who wait, 8b. Time and tide wait for no man

9a. Too many cooks spoil the broth, 9b. Many hands make light work

10a. Birds of a feather flock together, 10b. Opposites attract

Experiment on Folk wisdoms
One study done by Tracy et al., suggest that proverbs or folk wisdoms are primarily used in order to handle the hardships that life throws our way. The researchers tested this hypothesis by using “the validity of the distinction between positive and negative reframes and whether the distinction applies to proverbs”. This is also known as cognitive reframing. Reframes, in this experiment is referred to the implications of the specific proverb. For example, a proverb with a positive reframe would suggest the positive aspects of a situation and a negative reframe is defined as explaining some problematic situation that should be avoided. The examples given in the study are as followed; A positive proverb reframe would be “every cloud has a silver lining” and the negative reframe would be, “all that glitters is not gold”. In the study, it is shown that this reframing actually takes place when one can not solve an immediate problem. This positive and negative reframing can be seen to have some relationship with “dispositional optimism”. This would make the subject more optimistic about nature. It is also noted that folk wisdoms that come off as truer to people, tend to be the ones that people use in explaining things. However, the truth found in the proverb is situational and while some people may find one proverb more true than another, another person could find the proverb more false and not use it as often. In the study, subjects were to rate the “truth” of the proverb based on the situation and experience, therefore giving researchers an idea of which proverbs would “reflect goodness of fit”. The results showed that the use of positive and negative reframes are not significantly different therefore suggesting that “abstract heuristics that can be instantiated as relevant to multiple situations”. In regards to the situational aspect of proverbs, Tracy et al. point of that most people do not use proverbs logically in conversation and rather uses them according to how the conversation plays out. People “interpret proverbs by assigning the meaning that makes the proverb as sensible and informative as possible.”. This study shows that proverbs are useful in order to explain situations that aren’t easily explainable or should be avoided, and that proverbs, consistent with the folk wisdom illusion, are used to validate certain aspects inside a conversation, when the actual “truth” is hard to come by.

Where Does the Illusion Come From
The folk wisdom illusion stems from folk psychology which is the area of psychology that uses common sense to explain situations, behaviors, and beliefs. Otherwise known as common sense psychology, it aims to explain these things in common terms rather than with scientific terms.This familiarity folk psychology uses may not always be accurate however. Although this may make behaviors easier to understand, the familiar explanations may not always be the true explanations. For more information, see Folk Psychology.