Psychology Says We’ll See More Outbursts
How the “extinction burst” means we’ll see more bad behavior, not less
Although I live out on the west coast of California, I have a close friend who lives in Washington, D.C., and is part of the United States political apparatus.
On Wednesday, when protests by Trump supporters turned into riots and anarchy as the protesters fought their way into government buildings, I reached out to him to make sure he was safe. Thankfully, he was well away from the streets.
There are many articles and discussion around why the protest turned violent, how it became a mass of people who stormed the Capitol building, whether the police were complicit or if they merely underestimated the potential for violence, whether the individuals who lost their lives were committing crimes deserving of the outcome.
But as we look forward, especially towards the January 20th inauguration of the next president, many are wondering whether it could happen again.
Politics and partisanship is outside my area of expertise — but I am familiar with a psychological phenomenon called an extinction burst.
And I worry that these protests are the start of that burst — and there may be more.
