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The Psychology of Listicles

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See a catchy headline? BrainCraft’s Vanessa Hill helps us to find out the science behind why listicles are so popular.


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References
Bohn, R., & Short, J. (2012). Measuring consumer information. Int J Comm,6, 980-1000.

Oppenheimer, D. M. (2008). The secret life of fluency. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(6), 237-241.

Reber, R., & Schwarz, N. (1999). Effects of perceptual fluency on judgments of truth. Consciousness and cognition, 8(3), 338-342.

Winkielman, P., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2001). Mind at ease puts a smile on the face: psychophysiological evidence that processing facilitation elicits positive affect. Journal of personality and social psychology, 81(6), 989.

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Listicles are great for our brains to process. Though there are arguments on how much people actually process, listicles certainly make it quick to digest information.  
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Avatar for Cynthia Silva
Cynthia Silva
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Princeton, New Jersey, United States
02/06/2018 • 
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