Psychologists discuss human behaviour in The Traitors
With the latest series of The Traitors underway, Psychologists at the University of Chester have shared their insights into the behaviour patterns of the contestants.
Dr Clea Wright, Professor Lisa Oakley and Dr Kevin Hochard hosted a podcast last year called Psychology of..... The Traitors and plan to launch another series on Spotify to run alongside the latest BBC One series.
They recently shared their thoughts in a recently published article in The Guardian ‘I’m 100% faithful!’ What The Traitors tells us about human nature.
Lisa noted that the players tend to favour contestants like themselves and gravitate towards these groups of people. For instance, Harry’s speech from second series is a gold mine for demonstrating how language was used to promote in-group membership and Lisa uses this example in her own teaching across the Psychology programmes at the University of Chester.
Clea suggested that the contestants often don’t appear to realise that trustworthiness and someone being a traitor or not are not linked as the traitors are selected by chance.
Kevin discussed how Jaz in last year’s series worked out that Harry, who went on to win the show, was a traitor but was unable to build the connections with other players in time to convince them of this theory.
The academics said that the game is incredibly challenging for the faithful who have little evidence to base their decisions upon. Roundtable decisions are often led by one dominant voice with others following suit with their decision.
Kevin said: “Like much of the nation, we’re gripped by The Traitors each series and we’re really looking forward to seeing how this series unfolds.
“Clea, Lisa and I will be revisiting our podcast to discuss the behaviours behind the intrigue and hope fans of the show will listen in as the twists and turns develop. As Psychologists it is a fascinating watch and insight into human behaviour.”