Shifting Baseline Syndrome (SBS) And Scam Awareness
Shifting Baseline Syndrome (SBS) And Scam Awareness
Authors:
• Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
• Vianey Gonzalez – Psychologist, Certified Deception Professional, Psychology Advisory Panel & Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
A Question Often Asked Is Why Doesn’t Scam Awareness Training And Information Reduce Victimization? The Answer May Just Be Shifting Baseline Syndrome!
Humans tend to prioritize risks based on immediate threats, and one of the ways we identify immediate threats is by rapid changes in our environment, such as new lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) in our vicinity for example. But Shifting Baseline Syndrome biases our view to diminish that awareness of the risk changes.
What is Shifting Baseline Syndrome?
Shifting baseline syndrome (SBS) is a gradual change in the accepted norms for the condition of the natural environment due to a lack of experience, memory, and/or knowledge of its past condition. In other words, as each generation grows up, they accept the current state of the environment as normal, even if it is actually degraded or improved from its previous state.
Of course, our natural environment can be the physical world or our digital one. It can be inside a workplace, our home, our community, our nation, or on the Internet. It can be any environment within which we live, work, or exist!
SBS can be seen in a variety of environmental contexts, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. For example, people who Read More …
