Concepts (page 16)

Identity fusion describes a psychological state in which the boundary between a person's individual identity and a group's identity blurs, so that a threat to the group is felt as a threat to the…

An identity pact is a precommitment to a self-image rather than to a behaviour. The claim is that identity works as a shortcut: once a thing is part of who you are, the individual decisions stop…

Identity signaling is Jonah Berger and Chip Heath's finding that consumption choices are read as claims about who a person is, and that people abandon tastes when the wrong group takes them up. The…

Identity-based habits are James Clear's argument that behaviour change lasts when it changes who you believe you are, rather than only what you do. Above goals and above systems sits identity, and…

Implementation intentions are Peter Gollwitzer's if-then plans: "if situation X occurs, then I will perform behaviour Y." Binding a behaviour to a specific cue moves the decision off in-the-moment…

Implicit egotism is the proposal that people gravitate, without knowing it, to things that resemble themselves, starting with the letters of their own name. The underlying name-letter effect holds…

The imposter phenomenon is the pattern in which demonstrably high achievers fail to internalise their own accomplishments: persistent self-doubt, success attributed to luck or timing rather than…

Impression management is presenting a favourable public image so that other people form positive judgements of you. Erving Goffman's contribution was to treat this as theatre rather than as…

Impulse buying is a purchase made on a sudden, felt urge to buy something now. It is a stricter idea than an unplanned purchase, which only means the item was not intended when the shopper walked…

Incremental progress is Adam Alter's name, from Irresistible in 2017, for the felt sensation of getting better, manufactured through graded difficulty rather than earned through any real gain. It is…

Incremental validity is the question of whether a construct predicts an outcome over and above the predictors already established. Not whether grit correlates with achievement, which almost…

One side of a transaction knows something the other cannot check. It is the parent condition behind credence goods, behind the suspicion that prices are unfair, and behind most of what consumer…