Sometimes we have to leave this or that action unfinished due to various reasons. Well, after that we can be tormented at night, and this unfinished business will remind ourselves again and again with annoying thoughts even if this is the case and there is no need to finish it to the end for one reason or another. All this does not at all speak of our high degree of shamefulness or something like that. The thing is that in the theory of modern gestalt psychology there is such a thing as the Zeigarnik effect, which owes its name to the Soviet scientist B.V. Zeigarnik.
Who is she - Bluma Volfovna?
Bluma was born in 1900 in the north-east of Russia, and throughout her childhood and youth did not portend her high achievements in pathopsychology. At the age of 21, the girl married and moved to Berlin, where she entered the institute.
And only during the lecture visits she was thoroughly interested in personality psychology, as well as various processes that are manifested in the behavior of a person with one or another violation.
It is surprising that the phenomenon, which will later be called the “Zeigarnik Effect in Psychology” and which will glorify Bluma Volfovna, became the object of study in the doctor’s works back in her student years and was the main topic of the thesis. Of course, throughout her life, Mrs. Zeigarnik made many discoveries, having worked as an assistant to L. S. Vygotsky in a neuropsychiatric clinic at the Institute of Experimental Medicine. However, her first work, studied and opened to the world at a young age, became an indispensable contribution to the gestalt psychology of the modern world.
Tandem of Russian psychologist and a Berlin waiter
As mentioned earlier, the Zeigarnik effect was discovered by Madame Doctor as a student. The 20s of the 20th century stood in the courtyard, and young Bluma in those days underwent an internship with the luminary of pathopsychology Kurt Levin. One day, the great doctor and scientist decided to visit one of the German ordinary crowded cafes, inviting his intern Zeigarnik there. The effect of incomplete action as one of the laws of gestalt psychology originated in the student’s head that very day, and this happened for the following reasons.
When the waiter arrived, he did not record a single word from the list of visitors' voiced orders, but at the same time did not forget absolutely nothing, and after a while the dishes were on the table. Surprised at the phenomenal abilities of the service worker, Bluma Volfovna noted the very good memory of the waiter. However, he said that he never writes anything. Then Zeigarnik asked the waiter to name what people ordered at the tables he had served earlier, and he could not fully recall the order, referring to the crowded cafe.
The first tests to confirm the phenomenon
Having become interested in this issue and seeking scientific confirmation, after some time, Bluma Zeigarnik, together with her friend and classmate Maria Ovsyankina, decided to conduct a certain experiment.
A certain group of people participated in the experimental actions, before whom the goal was set in solving intellectual problems. At the same time, some people managed to solve the problem completely, but others were interrupted, not giving the opportunity to finish the job. As a result, after a few days, the experimental subjects were asked about the content of the tasks, and only those who did not manage to solve them to the end clearly remembered the conditions of the tasks. This phenomenon is called the Zeigarnik effect. Or - in a different way - the effect of incomplete action.
Zeigarnik effect, or How to use the completion principle
Every psychological phenomenon has its practical application in everyday life, so often each of us suffers from the effect of incomplete action, tormenting ourselves with unwanted memories of a particular incident.
No one likes uncertainty. But in the modern world, many advertisers and marketers use the effect of incomplete actions in order to promote goods on web pages, and simply in television advertising.
How it works? If we are talking about advertising on web pages, then often only key phrases are applied to the banner with an appeal to the consumer. However, they are structured in such a way that they seem incomplete. Therefore, users of web pages, subconsciously avoiding the effect of incompleteness, follow the link and receive new information. At the same time, the obtained data will be absorbed much better, since there was a principle of completion.
And now you ask: and why do some television ads constantly revolve in memory? And we will answer you: precisely for the same reason the effect of incompleteness. Often, the appeals of manufacturers come to us from the screens, a certain dialogue with the audience, necessarily containing a question, which, in fact, is most remembered.
The phenomenon of incompleteness in love
Often we cannot forget about this or that person with whom we had romantic or friendly relations, justifying ourselves and selecting various psychological effects as an excuse. The Zeigarnik effect can explain a lot of suffering on unstable relationships, especially if there was no obvious separation and division of property between partners.
Therefore, it is strongly discouraged to part with former lovers by phone or the Internet. The affected side will not be able to fully realize that everything is over, and this phenomenon of incompleteness will lurk in the subconscious of a person, not letting go of the image of the former lover.
The same applies to relationships that are destroyed due to a sudden distance between people. For example, if one of the half leaves to work in another city and gradually weanes from a loved one, there must be a fact of parting in person. Otherwise, such a “silent” gap can painfully affect the subconscious of the affected side.
How to recognize the Zeigarnik effect and how to deal with it?
After reading this article, some of you may have started to wonder if this effect of incomplete action spoils your life? Let's try to figure it out.
The fact is that there are some symptoms, like in a real disease, which indicate the constant cyclic principles of incompleteness in your life:
- if you feel constant anxiety, despite the coherence of life, good work and having a family;
- if your personal life does not add up again and again for reasons incomprehensible to you;
- if you often think of yourself the continuation of certain words of the interlocutor;
- if you feel that you are increasingly stepping on the same rake.
The above symptoms are not signs of ordinary life failures. All problems lie inside the person himself. You just need to open your eyes to the sometimes very painful truth and rethink the existing unfinished situations.
And no treatment is needed at all, and there is no need to look for old friends and complete unfinished business. Just understand for yourself that a lot of time has passed, and it’s time to let go of the situation, you don’t need to justify and regret anyone. You will see - life will become easier. Just let it go.