Cognitively humans are extremely flawed, unlike computers we can be irrational and make mistakes. Plus, there is only so much information our brain can take in. We can forget details or get things mixed up. This idea is known as a cognitive bias and can be a lot more obvious when we look at ideas such as stereotyping. An individual will suggest every member within an ethnicity, social class or gender has specific personality traits, which is completely inaccurate. But even if you don’t stereotype groups, we are all susceptible to these biases. Moreover, there are tons of different types we can fall into.
What is a cognitive bias?
A cognitive bias is an error in thinking. It can occur from a range of things, this could include issues with attention, memory, and our thought process. A cognitive bias usually happens when we try to make shortcuts in thinking. This can be down to our brains trying to be efficient as we can’t process everything, you make thousands of decisions every day, we would become overwhelmed if we had to deeply think about every decision. Another note is cognitive biases occur unconsciously. As mentioned before, our brain is trying to save energy, so these thought processes will be automatic and can feel difficult to notice.
Why it is important to know about them?
Cognitive biases may seem like a small thing, but they can be valuable when you’re looking at important decisions or your relationships. It can teach us how we are inherently biased to ourselves and our peers. Furthermore, we will always make mistakes, is doing well in a pursuit could cause us to overestimate our abilities or make false beliefs. Having awareness about this can help us address them if they come up. On small-scale, biases are very helpful because they help us cut corners, but in other instances, we need to be careful.
Different types of biases
There are a range of different cognitive biases that most of us have exhibited before. We all do these, and if you haven’t done it before, it is likely you’ve seen someone else do it. You may notice that some are more prevalent in people than others.
The actor-observer bias
This is a bias that occurs when a person applies circumstances that occur to things outside their control whereas with others, they base it on the person decisions. It is a bias where you believe others should take more responsibility but if you’re in the same position the problem is external. Imagine that you broke your laptop. Now someone else may base it on your inability to take care of it properly, but if it happened to them, they would see it as bad luck. Understanding this bias can help us become more understanding of others, it lets us know that we don’t always know people’s situations, so we shouldn’t be judgmental. According to researchers, the bias is less likely to occur with close friends or family, as you have a much better idea of their circumstances.
The hindsight bias
The hindsight bias shows us how easily we can change our opinion once an outcome has changed. It is when you believe an event to be more obvious than it was, after it has occurred. This could be from anything. If you’re watching a show and a plot twist happens, you may believe that it was more likely to take place than you initially thought. But the problem with this bias, is that it can lead to us overestimating our abilities. We may think we knew the outcome, when in reality we didn’t. One way you could try to address this is by looking at different outcomes. This can help us become more objective and well-rounded.
The halo effect
The halo effect shows us how stereotyping isn’t always negative, and even positively, we may overestimate someone else’s abilities. It is when you have a positive outlook on the person based on our opinion of them or our opinion of their traits. This is especially clear when you look at how attractive people can be seen as kinder and more competent. An experiment on school teachers found that how physically attractive the child was correlated with the teacher’s perception on their academic future. This has huge implications on how you can be viewed by others. Not only does it mean that we may be treated differently based on how attractive we look. If you think highly of someone, maybe it could be down to one good quality, they have.
Optimism and pessimism bias
The optimism and pessimism bias explains something that many of us are already familiar with. The fact that our emotions can mislead any decisions we may make. It suggests that your perception of a decision will change based on your current emotional state. Researchers stated that depending on what mood you’re in, you may see a task as more beneficial or having a higher risk. For instance, being in a good mood could make you think an investment will generate more profits than it would. Whereas being in a bad mood would have the opposite effect. This means we should always try to make sure we aren’t making huge decisions when we are happy or upset, it could be best to wait until you are feeling relaxed or neutral before you do anything.
Addressing a cognitive bias
If we are all likely to do this, what is the best way to address, it? Well, first we need to understand that it will always occur in some way or another. A bias is the brain’s way of trying to be efficient. Even so, there are some things we can do to improve our awareness.
- Look at all the factors. When we look at each variable, we begin to look at the decision more clearly rather than getting too caught up in the outcome. This helps us make more unbiased choices.
- Journal. If you journal frequently, then read it later, you can observe any flaws in your thought patterns. Journaling can be seen as cathartic too, it can help you express yourself.
- Be more empathetic. Having empathy can help address any problems with stereotyping or the actor observer bias. If we can try to be more understanding of another person, we won’t become as arrogant. Being empathetic with yourself is important as well. Knowing that you will make mistakes can cause you to become more generous to others.
