Neckties, Caper Movies & Judging Book Covers

Allow me to share with you one thing I love.

I love caper movies. They grab your attention and hold it without making you think too hard about what’s going on. They are clever and funny and adventurous. And the best caper flicks lean into the ridiculousness of the caper with a self-aware wink, which serves to strengthen the suspension of disbelief required to sit back and enjoy the show. They are the perfect escape from reality.

Cinematic capers come in various shapes and sizes, but the caper itself almost always hinges on the ability of the capering crew to assume roles that they have no business assuming, so that they may pull off whatever impossible task they are faced with. While there may be some character study involved, the assumed role is usually facilitated via a simple costume change.

The trilogy of Ocean’s movies of the early 2000’s provide a perfect case study. Here’s a taste of the costumes used by the crew in executing their capers:

Ocean’s 11

• “Recruiting Basher” — Rusty (Brad Pitt) dressed as special cop
• “Behind the Scenes” — Techy crewmember dressed as computer technician
• “SWAT Team Vault” — Multiple crewmembers dressed as SWAT police

Ocean’s 12

• “Julia meets Bruce” — Danny Ocean’s wife (Julia Roberts) dressed as Julia Roberts (very meta)
• “The Section Chief” — Mother of crewmember dressed as legal authority

Ocean’s 13

• “The Rich Guy” — Crewmember dressed as Chinese rich guy
• “The Reviewer” — Crewmember dressed as Five Diamond Rep
• “The Scientist” — Rusty dressed as earthquake scientist

Without these costumes the Ocean’s capers — or ANY caper for that matter — never get off the ground. There are other important and predictable aspects of a successful caper, but none is more important than the costume.

Now allow me to share with you one thing I hate.

I hate wearing a necktie. I’m not a fan of “dressing up” for work in general, but I especially hate wearing a necktie. I also make a living as a banker. These two realities do not coexist well together.

Sartoralists (those interested in matters of clothing) will tell you that the modern necktie traces its roots back to the 17th century when Croatian soldiers wore a piece of cloth around their neck in order to close the top of their uniform jacket. King Louis XIII of France so enjoyed the look that he made these “neckties” mandatory at royal gatherings. Fast forward to today and, taking the lead from King Louis, ties are a purely decorative and completely useless accessory.

Wearing even the best and most expensive-est tie is less comfortable than not wearing one at all. A tie is form for form’s sake. The actual function of a necktie vanished the second some genius figured out that buttons were a better technology for closing up the clothes around your neck. Yet ties show no signs of going away, especially among the ranks of white-collar workers, like yours truly.

Admittedly, I rarely have to wear a tie, largely because the banking I do is on the west coast and everything is more casual out here. But on the occasion that I have an important meeting or expect to be graced by the presence of an important person, you’d better believe I dutifully strap one on and spend my day mildly disgusted by the choices that have led me to willingly engage in this small act of societal obedience.

There you have it. Maybe you also love caper movies. And maybe you equally despise useless fashion accessories. But why are we talking about them in a behavioral science blog?

Glad you asked. Put plainly: Wearing a costume (what is a tie but a type of costume) is an exceptionally effective way of communicating something about the wearer. Why it’s so effective is exactly what we’re here to talk about.

Authority Bias

As laid out by Daniel Kahneman in his seminal work on the workings of the human mind, Thinking, Fast and Slow, we process the world through two systems. System 1 is our primal, instinctual mind. System 2 is our deliberate, “thinking” self. Both are important to our survival and success, but System 1 is generally the one we default to in making decisions about what to do and how to react. For purposes of this discussion, what you need to know about System 1 is that it has evolved to be as efficient as possible in processing the information we receive from the world (for a deeper dive see our related post “Laziness is not a bug, it is THE feature”). System 1 is constantly looking for and creating short-cuts in order to save us time and energy (these short cuts are called “heuristics” by fancy-pants academics). One of these short cuts is to take things at face value, to judge a book by its cover.

In the lingo of behavioral science, to judge a book by its cover is to adhere to the Authority Bias. Another highly regarded intellectual in the world of human behavior, Robert Cialdini, identifies the authority bias as one of the 6 main principles of persuasion, defining it as “…the idea that people follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts.” He goes on to say “…that it’s important to signal to others what makes you a credible, knowledgeable authority before you make your influence attempt.” There’s a good chance you recognize the Authority Bias as the primary driver behind the infamous Milgram Obedience Experiment.

In sum, signaling, as in the use of a certain type of uniform, gives you instant credibility and authority in the eyes of your audience. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the power of the costume. And it’s not just uniforms that are able to communicate authority. Official titles, conspicuous consumption and/or ownership, personal testaments, and even the simple projection of confidence can also tickle our internal authority button.

It comes as no surprise that behavioral science, through research and the language of heuristics and biases, has confirmed and formally codified the Authority Bias. What does come as a surprise (at least to me) is the historical frequency and sustainability of messaging around authority. We’ve been talking about where authority comes from, how to leverage authority, and being wary of strict adherence to authority for millennia.

Judging the Book by its Cover

Not blindly following authority figures was top of mind for our Sumerian ancestors…

• “Whatever the man in authority said, it was not right.”

…as was honoring your parents and elders, who had authority over you:

• “Pay heed to the word of your mother as though it were the word of God.”
• “A child should behave with modesty toward his mother. He should take the older generation into consideration.”

The bible is unequivocal in communicating where authority comes from:

• “…there is no authority except that which God has established.” (NIV, Romans 13:1)

17th & 18th century English philosophers Thomas Hobbes & Jean-Jacques Rousseau had these respective thoughts on being wary of authority:

• “It is not wisdom but authority that makes a law.”
• “No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.”

Today, little has changed. On where authority comes from, we say…

• “He who as the gold makes the rules.”

…and we’re still harping on our kids:

• “Listen to your parents/teacher/doctor/etc.”

…on leveraging authority, we tell each other to…

• “Walk in like you own the place.”
• “Fake it until you make it.”

…and on being wary of authority…

• “Mite doesn’t make right.”
• “Don’t judge the book by its cover.”

Bottom Line

As per usual, we’ve always had an awareness of our inherent authority bias. So much so that through the years we’ve developed and refined countless ways to leverage the individual penchant for authority, to both good and nefarious purposes. Costumes are just one of the many ways we put a thumb on the authority scale.

As for me, I like to think that I am so aware of the Authority Bias that I am no longer susceptible to its wiles (in other words, “I’m different”), that I am unwilling to stoop so low as to leverage it for my own personal benefit, which is exactly what I’m going to tell myself next time I’m putting on a tie for a big meeting.