– When a lot is at stake, you become uncertain and often ask for advice. That’s what associate professor and researcher at the Department of Management and Organization at BI, Erik Løhre, says. Erik Løhre is an associate professor and researcher at BI in Oslo. He has recently published a study that examined counseling in five seasons of the entertainment program “Alle mot 1”. Photo: BI Business School He has researched the first five seasons of the entertainment program “Alle mot 1” and his study has recently been accepted in the journal “Judgment and Decision Making”. There are many people who give advice to the participants in Alle mot 1. Family and friends, celebrities and the whole village at home. But are they to be trusted? It is not certain whether we are to believe the recent research. – Listens more to the advisers than to himself In “Alle mot 1” the participant makes a choice when a lot of money is at stake. To compare, the researchers looked at when people receive advice in “regular” settings when less is at stake and as a participant in the entertainment program where a lot is at stake. The participants appreciated the advice, which they often saved for last. This differed from the “usual” situation, says Løhre. – People like to adjust their answer a little, but stay fairly close to their own starting point. In “Alle mot 1”, people listen more to the counselors than to themselves. Athlete Markus Rooth and comedian Else Kåss Furuseth in the celebrity panel. Should the participants in “Alle mot 1” listen to the advice they give? Photo: Screenshot What surprised the researchers was that it did not always pay off to use the advice the participants received. For example, it is usually a good strategy to lie “in the middle” of the answers the adviser gives, says Løhre. But in “Alle mot 1” this has little effect. – What can we at home in the living room learn from this? – We think this shows that people can be more responsive to advice when a lot is at stake, but that people do not need to be worried that they are not using the advice enough. Similarities found with top managers The researchers also found that being a participant in game shows has something in common with top managers. – As a top manager, there can also be a lot of money at stake, a lot of attention on the main character, and a lot of uncertainty about what the right answer is, says Løhre. So what can Norway’s top managers learn from the research? Løhre does not want to draw any conclusions, but he highlights a couple of possibilities. – The participants listen to the advice more than they strictly need to – perhaps to be polite or appear positive. Managers can perhaps learn from this and be clear in counseling situations that it is not certain that they will follow the advice they receive. Well-known senior managers such as hotel owner Petter Stordalen and central bank governor Ida Wolden Bache used as illustrations. Maybe they can learn something from watching game shows? Photo: NTB/NTB The uncertainty in the tasks must also be embraced, the researcher believes. – It seems that the participants in “Alle mot 1” agree that the tasks are difficult and that there is great uncertainty in the answers. Top managers could perhaps also embrace the uncertainty in their decisions to an even greater extent. – But it is clear, there is, after all, something else to do with a question game than making decisions for a large company, Løhre continues. Reminder that you can play in the “Alle mot 1” app at any time, even after the broadcast has finished. Four “fun facts” about guessing The researcher says that unfortunately they cannot give the participants a winning strategy based on their research. But there is a good deal of research in psychology that can perhaps help us understand more about guessing and problem solving. Did you know, for example, that studies show that women are more likely to change their answer than men? – The participants in “Alle mot 1” are often in an extreme variant of situations we all encounter on a daily basis. They may lean heavily on the advice of friends and think about how the answer will “look” to the many thousands watching on TV. So says social psychology researcher Ole Aasvik. Ole Aasvik is a researcher and doctoral candidate with an education in social psychology. He says that social psychology can have a big impact on guessing. Photo: University of Oslo news, together with the researcher, has found five “fun facts” about guessing and problem solving, which can help explain what determines the final answer in the entertainment programme. Women change their minds more often than men Who? A study from the United States that examined the “balance of power” in marriage. What? The study shows that when partners are faced with typical issues in a relationship, it is most likely that the woman will agree with the man if he answers first. This proved to be the case also when the woman in the marriage was more interested in politics and earned more money than her partner. Aasvik says he thinks it’s about women presumably being more oriented towards the social. – They seek care professions to a greater extent, even in very equal countries such as Norway. In this sense, it is not surprising that women “conform” to the opinion of others in order to preserve social cohesion. Changes one’s answer, even if one thinks it is right Who? A well-known and classic experiment from the 50s carried out by the psychologist Solomon Asch. What? The experiment shows that people choose to answer something they know is wrong, only because they want not to stand out from the group. It may seem sensible for many to listen to the information from the people around them, Aasvik believes. – Maybe you sit at a strange angle and see the lines crookedly? Maybe you misunderstood something about the task? The others’ answers become information points that you can lean on in an otherwise information-free situation. Aasvik believes this is also the case in “Alle mot 1”. – You discuss with both celebrities and close friends and family, who you probably attach a lot of weight to, before making your decision. Participant Solveig Ittelin ponders what she should guess. For example, could the celebrity panel influence the choice she had initially decided on? We tend to choose the “blue seven” Who? A survey that asked over 500 teenagers to choose a number from 0-9 and a color. What? The number seven and the color blue were clearly the most chosen, which has also been the case in several other studies, with different age groups. Aasvik thinks this is funny and innocent. – This is a task where you are completely free to choose what you want. The fact that we find clear patterns on such simple questions makes me wonder how we are influenced in more complex decisions. But why exactly blue and seven? – Presumably because seven has a cultural position that makes it stand out while also feeling more random and unique. Blue is a universal and neutral color that everyone has a relationship with. Aasvik says that the number seven has a cultural position. Several popular footballers use the number seven, for example French Kylian Mbappé. Seven is also the number used most often in the Bible, with 735 times. Seven is also considered a magical number in the fairy tale genre. For example: The seventh father in the house, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, and that Ashkeladen had seven objects that he used when he had to target the princess. The presence of others affects us Who? Social psychological theory of influence from others. What? Describes how the presence of others can affect performance either positively or negatively. For example, if we have practiced a lot on a task or are good at something, the presence of others can increase motivation and performance, explains Aasvik. – On the other hand, our performance can deteriorate when we perform tasks we do not master very well, precisely because we become more nervous or stressed when we are being observed. It can therefore go both ways in “All against 1”. – Participants can either feel more secure and self-confident if they feel that they have mastered the situation, or they can become more insecure and perform worse. This will give an advantage to those who are confident in their own guesswork and comfortable with the social situation. Watch the premiere of “Alle mot 1”. Published 28.09.2024, at 15.55
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Has researched five seasons of “Alle mot 1” – news Culture and entertainment
