What is contrast effect or contrast distortion?
The contrast effect or contrast bias is the phenomenon whereby an experience is not perceived purely in itself, but is perceived involuntarily or unconsciously not in itself, but compared to a previous experience or knowledge, and depending on what the comparison is made to, our perception and value judgements of the experience may change. Contrast effects are referred to in psychology as a type of cognitive bias.
Sensory contrast perception
The best way to understand contrast perception is through concrete examples.
One of the classic examples, first described by the philosopher John Locke in the 17th century, is an experiment you can do at home, where you put one hand in cold water for a minute, the other in warm water, and then both in lukewarm water. We have the interesting experience that the same lukewarm water feels warm to the hand that was in cold water, while the other hand feels cold, simply because they have a different reference point from a few seconds earlier, which they, or rather our brain, cannot abstract away from.
It is also a sensory experience, specifically an optical illusion, where the perception of a colour changes depending on the surrounding colour environment, as shown in the figure below. The small grey circle in the middle is of the same hue, yet the one surrounded by a lighter environment is perceived as darker, and the one surrounded by a darker environment is perceived as lighter.
Contrast effect in business
But let’s move beyond the abstract experiments and look at the relevance of this in everyday life, as it is not only the more narrowly sensory experiences that are subject to this phenomenon, but it is more general and is also a phenomenon that is readily taken into account in business. In the sale of real estate (or any other product), if the buyer is first shown an expensive and bad property and then a better and still expensive but slightly lower priced house, the latter will be perceived as a relatively good buy and will be received more positively than if only this one property had been shown.
In the HR field, too, when we look at CVs and interviews, we have to take into account the distortion of the contrast effect, because we inevitably compare newer candidates with previous candidates and the same effect can occur as in real estate sales, where after a few poor candidates, a mid-level, acceptable one can appear very good.
The same effect can be observed in oral examinations, i.e. after a few weak candidates we have a chance of getting a good mark with a mid-level answer, whereas if everyone before us is brilliant, the bar is set high for us and the marking becomes more rigorous.
Contrast in everyday life
If you have to carry a heavy spiritual burden that weighs you down and is suddenly lifted off your shoulders, then relatively smaller burdens that might otherwise weigh you down now seem temporarily light and insignificant. Many of us have memories of being faced with exams or essays as a child, which caused us a feeling of heavy oppression and fear, and when we got out of the exam or the essay was cancelled for some unexpected reason, we felt a sense of euphoric relief, a feeling of euphoria and liberation that made us feel that the sun was shining on us, that we were in a good mood, that life was beautiful and that all the other problems were forgotten, whereas if the test had not been on the agenda in the first place, we would have had just the usual everyday experience of the same day. With the sudden disappearance of the overwhelming feeling, the simply not overwhelming reality is also a stark contrast for our minds and emotions and is experienced as positive.
It is also observed that in the company of a group of less attractive people, a person of average attractiveness stands out and gives a much more winning impression than if seen alone, especially compared to if he or she were to appear in the company of a photographic model, where he or she would be the less beautiful one.
There are many more examples, but one I would mention is something that many people do on a regular basis, which is to compare themselves with others, with people who are ahead of them, who are better than them. Some people are constantly looking at why others are nicer, better, more successful than they are and through this they evaluate themselves. This mental habit is unfortunate because it constantly creates a contrast that our minds and emotions can perceive, in which we always come out undervalued, at a loss, which also arrives in our emotions in the form of a negative feeling of life.
Contrast recognition – the mind’s natural way of working
The contrast effect is most often referred to as contrast bias and is classified as a cognitive bias, which immediately highlights a negative aspect of it, perhaps because it is the easiest to catch. However, we should also bear in mind that contrast perception – of which contrast bias is a weakness and a limitation – is a very important faculty of our mind.
The above examples show that contrast effects are not an isolated phenomenon in a particular area, but a general way of the mind working is relative contrast-based comparison, whether physical, emotional or mental.
We have perceptions and thoughts all the time and we are constantly aware of the way our mind works and with it the contrast effect or contrast bias is with us even if we are not consciously aware of it.
The mind is busy building up an understanding and a comprehensive system of knowledge about the world around us and about ourselves, free of contradictions as far as possible. And in doing so, it always tries to relate its experiences to an existing one and thus build up step by step. One possible way of linking information is to recognise the difference between two things along the lines of contrast. This is a very useful thing to do, even if it can lead to inaccuracies and distortions.
- Connection: our mind builds its knowledge system by making information connections.
- Comparison is a possible way of connecting things.
- Contrast is one way of comparing (along with similarity).
- Evaluation is the process that follows perception and associates some positive (good) or negative (bad) value with the experience, which can be expressed in emotions or feelings about life.
- Contrast is one way of comparing (along with similarity).
- Comparison is a possible way of connecting things.
Possible reference points for contrast
The mind is therefore constantly looking for reference points to evaluate new information and experiences and sensations. What might these points of contrast be?
- A recent experience of which we have a fresh memory, like the hot or cold water from which we have just transferred our hands to lukewarm water. With habituation or even more recent experiences, the earlier ones soon start to fade and expire.
- Internal standards, knowledge, ways of thinking, values, everything that is more or less constant in us, developed over a long period of time or even implanted in us, also provide a good basis for our minds to compare and evaluate. If one is a perfectionist, one will never be satisfied with anything, because one will constantly receive a contrast-based evaluation that shows a value gap. On the other hand, if one is grateful for everything and perceives life as a gift, one will constantly experience a positive sense of life, because one does not perceive a lack of value, but a surplus of value compared to what is expected. The conscience is another such standard, which we cannot control at will, but which typically dictates to us, setting a mirror, showing by contrast the discrepancy between our actions and what we believe to be right.
- External expectations, the opinions of others also act as a reference. We can also judge a situation or even ourselves depending on how the people around us and those who define us perceive us. Opinions can vary and can be diverse, but we are always surrounded by the opinions of others, we live in them, the question is to what extent we depend on them and to what extent we subordinate our own opinions to theirs.
- The perspective from which we approach a situation is also decisive, because we see a different picture and contrast it with others. It makes a difference whether we approach a situation as a boss or a friend, or whether a father, when a child gets a bad grade, acts as a parental authority and disciplines or whether he wants to express love and encouragement. These are choices, we can often approach something either way, it’s up to us, but the choice of perspective also determines the points of reference our mind looks for and the contrasts we look for. We can also look at what we think the child is expected to bring and contrast that with reality, but if we choose love rather than accountability in the situation, we can even temporarily let go of that merit benchmark.
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In the next post we will continue with a deeper look at the limitations of contrast effect and how we can put this into practice.