Combating Decision Bias
Posted October 19th, 2015
We are constantly making decisions throughout the day, everything from what to wear in the morning to how to advance your career. We all like to think that our decisions are based on sound reasoning, good evidence and are well thought out.
But, while we may think that our decisions are, for the most part, rational and objective, it often isn’t true. We have biases in the way we think, filters that our mind has set up that we usually don’t even realize. Psychologists have identified a number of these cognitive biases that affect our thinking. It certainly would be to your advantage to become aware of these biases and how they influence your thinking. Here are a few examples of decision bias.
1. Anchoring bias
This is where we tend to put a lot of weight on the first piece of information we get, more than it deserves. For example, during salary negotiations, the first figure mentioned tends to establish the parameter for all of the counteroffers.
2. Availability heuristic
This is where information that is available to someone becomes the basis for their opinion. The examples of this are usually anecdotes that people rely on. They just know, for example, that all black people are drug abusers because they know a black person who is.
3. Bandwagon effect
Someone may hold a particular belief simply because most of the people he or she knows also hold the same belief. This occurs, for example, among people of a particular political faction. People adopt their views based on what they hear from everyone around them.
4. Confirmation bias
We tend to look for or pay attention to only that information or opinion that supports our own pre-established beliefs. This is easily seen in the political arena, where people only read those blogs and other online publications that have the same outlook they do. They don’t even look at blogs with a different viewpoint. In fact, political scientists have coined the term “epistemic closure” to describe the phenomenon.
5. Choice supportive bias
This is where we believe something or have a positive feeling toward it simply because we chose it. Or we defend a bad decision simply because we made it. For example, someone may have made a decision to invest in a certain stock that later lost a lot of value. If the person defends his decision simply because he made it, without any other supportive evidence, he is guilty of choice supportive bias.
If you work in a technology-related field and are looking for employment in the San Francisco Bay area, Bayside Solutions can help you find a job that fits your particular skills and experience. Contact Bayside Solutions today.
