1.
psychological phenomenon; psychological effect
An observable pattern of thought, feeling, perception, or behavior studied by psychology — including cognitive biases, optical illusions, group dynamics, and other regular effects that appear across people under similar conditions.
興味深い心理現象だ。
It's an interesting psychological phenomenon.
It is known that in crowds, individual judgment weakens — this is a well-documented psychological phenomenon.
Composed of 心理 (mental state, psychology) and 現象 (phenomenon). A slightly formal academic term used in psychology textbooks, popular science articles, marketing books, and news explainers about cognitive biases and human behavior.
Usage
Used as an umbrella term for effects that psychology has named and studied — for example アンカリング (anchoring), バイアス (biases), 錯視 (optical illusions), バイスタンダー効果 (the bystander effect). Often appears in the pattern 'Xという心理現象' ('a psychological phenomenon called X').
Common collocations
- 心理現象が起こる: a psychological phenomenon occurs
- 心理現象を説明する: to explain a psychological phenomenon
- 心理現象を研究する: to study a psychological phenomenon
- 興味深い心理現象: an interesting psychological phenomenon
- Xという心理現象: a psychological phenomenon called X
Similar words
- 心理効果: psychological effect — emphasizes causal impact (Y causes Z); more common in marketing contexts
- 心理作用: psychological action / workings — the inner mental process underlying behavior
- 認知バイアス: cognitive bias — a specific subtype of 心理現象 involving systematic errors in reasoning
- 心理学: psychology — the field of study, not an individual phenomenon
- 社会現象: social phenomenon — a parallel formation at the societal rather than individual level
Related Words
Compare:
心理学 (psychology)