Stereotype Content Model: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
The first thing your brain does when it encounters a person, a brand, an avatar, or a country…
Work with Yu-kai
The Blog
Behavioral Analysis
Articles on Behavioral Analysis — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework.
Realistic Conflict Theory: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Short answer: Realistic Conflict Theory says hostility between groups comes from competition over scarce resources, not from personality…
The Chameleon Effect: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Short answer: The Chameleon Effect is the unconscious mimicry of another person’s postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions during…
Uncertainty Reduction Theory: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Berger & Calabrese's Uncertainty Reduction Theory in plain English — 7 axioms, 3 strategies, the Sunnafrank rebuttal, and…
Moral Foundations Theory: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Moral Foundations Theory proposes six universal moral dimensions — Care, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, Sanctity, and Liberty — that…
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)…
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…
Deindividuation: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Every online community you have ever shipped (every Discord, every multiplayer lobby, every comment section, every anonymous-feedback channel…
Pygmalion & Golem Effects: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Short answer: The Pygmalion Effect is the finding that what a rater expects of someone moves that person’s…