Scientific Definition
The same message in a different setting produces a different result.
Plain-English Definition
The same message in a different setting produces a different result.
Feynman Explanation
The pitch that killed in the boardroom dies on Slack. Same words. Different game.
Core Principle
The same message in a different setting produces a different result.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
The same message in a different setting produces a different result.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Channel selection and venue design for high-stakes communication.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The pitch that killed in the boardroom dies on Slack. Same words. Different game.
Examples
- Brown's lecture on 'How Context Shapes Influence.'
- Channel selection and venue design for high-stakes communication.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Pick the room before you pick the message.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Pick the room before you pick the message.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Preference between two options depends on what other options sit beside them — attraction, compromise, similarity effects.
Environmental factors influence perception and judgment.
What an environment offers an actor for action — handles to grip, surfaces to sit on, paths to follow.
Removing a quote from its context to distort its meaning.
A change to the choice architecture that predictably shifts behavior — without removing options.
Teaching the same concept to different audiences over time is naturally spaced repetition with feedback baked in.
A visual map of where in your day, mind, and environment your best thinking actually happens.
Hard tactics use pressure and authority; soft tactics use rapport, reasoning, and inspiration.
Persuasion power is a function of perceived expertise × perceived trustworthiness.
A consistent minority can shift the majority's views over time.
Unwritten rules of behavior — descriptive (what people do) or injunctive (what people approve of).
A group decides on a course of action that nobody actually wants, because everyone assumes others prefer it.