Vocabulary

exaggerated – преувеличенный

consensus – единодушие

survey – зд. анкета

oatmeal – овсянка

QUESTIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

1. Describe each psychological trick of advertisers.

2. How do you behave as a consumer?

3. Are you subjected to all these temptations?

32. Greed as a psychological trick

Greed uses many people’s belief that there is a secret short way to wealth. They believe that wealthy people did not earn their wealth; instead, they know a “secret”.

The simplest method of using the principle of greed is the chain letter. You have no doubt received a chain letter at some point. A chain letter contains a chart specifying the massive amounts of money the recipients will get when they follow the instructions. The first instruction is to send money.

The multi-level or network marketing scheme works similar to a chain letter. The prospective recruit gets a chart showing the massive amounts of money they will receive when they join the network. After parting with their money, the victim is instructed to attract their friends and relatives into joining.

Another method of using the principle of greed is the lottery or casino. A casino allocates only a tiny portion of its customers’ money to winnings in order to create the illusion that the chances of winning are high. Many people do not understand statistics. In their mind, the phrase “win a million dollars” translates into “get a million dollars”.

Specialists know people’s psychology and weaknesses of a human nature very well and use their knowledge successfully – they apply it in the sphere of business, particularly in advertising. Each of us as a customer must realize it. Be reasonable and don’t take the bait! Greed is a bad adviser for any customer, don’t be credulous and naïve either or you may be easily trapped.

VOCABULARY

chain letter – «письма счастья»

victim – жертва

greed – жадность

parting with – расставание c

recipient – получатель

cognitive – познавательный

credulous – легковерный

take the bait – попасться на удочку

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

1. What is people’s common belief?

2. What is the most often “instruction”?

3. How is the multi-level or network marketing scheme organized?

4. Is it possible for many people to win a million in a casino?

5. What should any sensible customer understand?

33. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF MAN

DURING THE CRISIS

The economic crisis is a stress and it influences us in many ways. It is very important to know what to do in this case.

The economic crisis is directly connected with the material costs that lead to the psychological sufferings of many people. Personal familiar orientations become broken or changed, the system of the communications in society crashes.

During these periods, people feel themselves anxious, aggressive, depressed and lonely. Many negative symptoms such as insomnia, tiredness, headache and high blood pressure appear. It is better to consult the psychologist in this period because these symptoms can lead to bad disasters.

Crisis affects society, and then reaches the concrete man in the form of personal psychological crisis on the one hand and it may become a kind of a challenge for him on the other hand. The economic crisis breaks man’s plans (for example, buying a new car). He needs to reject this way of life. We can call such man a victim of the economic crisis.

A human cannot exist without an aim in his life that he tries to approach. Any rebuilding of the society touches personal senses of life. If the former system is ruined, the man loses his support and feels like on enemy territory. Familiar styles of behavior become inadequate and the victim of crisis is defenseless in front of other people.

The reaction on the crisis can be different due to the personal characteristics and experience of a man. Some people are losing control of the events and this leads to their disorientation. Some feel the need of activity and this activity can create conflicts. Most wisely would be to make the analysis of yourself and the world around you.

Moreover, crisis may reveal the hidden abilities of yourself about which you did not even think. The system of values changes. Those values that were less important may become major.

When the man is fired from his job, he becomes shocked and depressed. His self-esteem is being hit. During this time he should be supported by his relatives. The economic crisis may influence family in different ways. Some families become closer supporting the victim of the crisis. Some families become ruined because it is impossible for them to deal with the difficulties. Even having stable families some people cannot be supported by their members. This happens because the family cannot restruct quickly

What is important, the man should find some good points of this fact. For example, it is the good reason to choose a new way of business. Many people listen to the voice of their mind but not their soul. They choose the profession that helps to earn much money but this job can be boring. At the same time, the less profitable but more interesting job is forgotten because there is no time for it. However, after being fired it is wise to start doing what you really like.

Without any doubt, overcoming the problem of crisis is impossible without the independent work of a man because there are many problems that he has to solve on his own. He should not be afraid of loneliness and hide from it. He needs to determine the goal connected with the overcoming the problem of crisis and try to reach it by himself. Society needs self-confident man because he is ready for new challenges in his life.

It would not be right to see only negative points of the economic crisis. The crisis is the possibility of personal growth and comprehension of self-existence. All this can help to form the immunity to the negative occurrences in the future.