You've seen the billboards: the well-known countenance of Albert Einstein, the tag line "Think Different" and the logo of a certain computer company. Trouble is, the ad campaign may be sending a very different message: "You're stupid."
Much research has shown that people's behavior unconsciously grows consistent with their stereo-types of the people around them. For example, subjects asked to imagine a professor score higher on intelligence tests than those asked to visualize a supermodel.
But a Dutch team led by Ap Dijksterhuis, Ph.D., of the University of Nijmegen, discovered that, when exposed to identifiable icons like Einstein or Claudia Schiffer, people acted the opposite of how they'd expect the famous figures to behave. Einstein's image caused people to score low on a test of questions adapted from Trivial Pursuit, while subjects asked to imagine curvy Claudia Schiffer answered the highest number of questions correctly. So the next time someone laughs at that Victoria's Secret ad over your desk, tell them it's to boost your intelligence.
