In psychology, what is the 'Mandela Effect'?

'The Mandela Effect' refers to a situation in which a large mass of people believes that an event occurred when it did not. The name "Mandela Effect" began when it was first coined in 2009.

It began with false memory of former South African president Nelson Mandela's death in a South African prison in the 1980s. In fact, Nelson Mandela did not die in the 1980s in a prison; he passed away in 2013.

As she began to talk to other people about her memories, Broome was shocked that such a large mass of people could remember the same identical event in such detail when it never happened.

A 2010 study examined people familiar with the clock at Bologna Centrale railway station, which was damaged in the Bologna massacre bombing in 1980. Over 90% of the public falsely remembered the clock had remained stopped, when in fact, the clock was repaired shortly after the attack.

The famous children's book series the 'Berenstain Bears' is not immune to the Mandela effect. Many people report remembering the name being the 'Berenstein Bears' (spelled with an "e" instead of an "a").

The 'Mandela Effect' continues to be hotly debated, despite reasonable evidence that it is more likely explained in terms of the fallibility of human memory than some form of parallel universes at work.

Positive traits associated with false memory indicate that individuals have superior organizational processes, heightened creativity, and prime solutions for insight-based problems.