Social Penetration Theory: 5 Stages + Onion Model Explained
Social Penetration Theory describes relationship development as a process of reciprocal self-disclosure expanding across breadth (range of topics)…
Work with Yu-kai
The Blog
Ideas on motivation, behavior & design.
Deep dives on the psychology behind why people do what they do — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework. Pick the topic that matters to you.
Pluralistic Ignorance: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Pluralistic Ignorance is the gap between private attitudes and public behavior — when most people privately disagree with…
False Consensus Effect: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
The False Consensus Effect is the systematic tendency to overestimate how many other people share our opinions, attitudes,…
Emotional Contagion: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Emotional Contagion is the automatic tendency to mimic and emotionally synchronize with the people around us — the…
Terror Management Theory: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Terror Management Theory explains how the awareness of death drives our cultural beliefs, self-esteem, and the search for…
Just-World Hypothesis: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Lerner's just-world hypothesis in plain English: the defensive cascade, the BJW-self vs BJW-others split, moderator-dependent victim derogation, and…
Social Comparison Theory: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Show me a leaderboard and I will show you Leon Festinger’s 1954 paper grafted onto a database table.…