Cognitive Biases: How Our Everyday-Thinking Gets Us into Trouble, and What to Do About It

Most of us have established patterns of thinking that seem to work for us. We press those patterns into service every day so we don’t really have to spend much time actually “thinking” about what we’re doing—we simply say or do something without putting much effort into it. It’s an approach to dealing with the world that is generally quick, and efficient, and has been developed over millennia to protect us from harm or reduce the level of effort in dealing with situations. Nobody wants to stop and think about what to do when we’re confronted by an animal intent on having us for lunch; we just do everything possible to get away from the situation without thinking.

Unfortunately, these “quick and dirty” shortcuts in our mental processing get us into trouble if we don’t stop occasionally and examine our thought patterns.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman’s best-selling book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” describes “System 1” thinking as fast and intuitive, and “System 2” as slower and more deliberate. If you’d like to get into more detail on how we think and ways we can use both of these systems, I highly recommend the book. Another book of Kahneman’s, “Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment,” is also a terrific read in how to make better judgments and decisions.

For this post, we’re going to concentrate on several common cognitive biases—habits of thinking that occur in our effort to simplify our world and move on to other things. In business and in everyday life, these biases get us into trouble, so we’ll also look at how to minimize them.

• Confirmation Bias: Confirmation bias is our tendency to look for and interpret information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs—and we ignore information that contradicts those beliefs. Confirmation bias usually isn’t intentional; it’s a type of “implicit bias” that’s a natural tendency of how people think, and we don’t like subjecting our thoughts to contradictory information because it’s uncomfortable.

Example: A ref makes a good call when it benefits our team, but if the call goes against our team, we think the ref made a bad call. Or, we form friendships based on whether people have the same beliefs we do.

How to minimize it: Seek contradictory evidence. Look for information that challenges your beliefs and assumptions. Consult people with different backgrounds and viewpoints.

• Fundamental Attribution Error (aka Hostile Attribution Bias): This error overemphasizes negative, personality-based explanations for others’ behavior rather than considering situational factors.

Example: We get irritated at that so-and-so driver who’s driving like a maniac and we personalize their behavior. It could be (although, okay, it probably isn’t) that they’re on their way to the hospital because they just got a call about a loved one who was admitted.

How to minimize it: Think about external factors and could explain the person’s behavior rather than just considering them a jerk. Slow down before making snap judgments about others. Imagine yourself in a difficult situation.

• Framing Effect: This happens when our decisions are influenced by how information is presented, rather than the information itself.

Example: Everyday advertising. The advertiser presents or positions information in the best possible light and appeals to our emotions, rather than giving us complete, unbiased information.

How to minimize it: Gather additional information before forming an opinion or making a decision. Ask yourself whether the information you’re being presented is relevant to your situation.

• Overconfidence Bias: We all do this—at least from time to time. We overestimate our own abilities and judgment.

Example: We believe we’re a much better boss or manager than others.

How to minimize it: Ask others for their opinions. Ask your direct reports for their opinions about your managerial style and about your decisions. Adopt a “growth mindset” and treat mistakes as learning opportunities.

• Anchoring Bias: This happens when we rely too much on the first piece of information we encounter—or that is presented to us. It gets us into trouble because we treat it as a reference point for later decisions, even when we’re given newer, more reliable information.

Example:  A seller starts with a high-priced item (an expensive car) and then later presents us with a lower-priced item (a different car). Even though the “lower-priced item” is still very pricy and represents more than we’d intended to spend, the anchor convinces us that this lower-priced item is a good deal and will satisfy us.

How to minimize it: Delay your decision and take time to gather more information. In the case of a purchase, decide what you consider fair/appropriate/within budget. Also, question the anchor: Ask yourself whether the initial reference point is relevant.

• Self-Serving Bias: This bias attributes successes to personal factors and failures to external actors.

Example: A business person crediting success to their own hard work but blaming failure on “bad business conditions” or “poor staff performance.”

How to minimize it: Examine your failures and identify areas for improvement. Acknowledge the contributions of your team to your successes.

• Negativity Bias: Negativity bias means giving more importance to negative information or experiences than positive ones. This, unfortunately, seems to be a big part of the human experience.

Example: Remembering a single critical comment more vividly than numerous compliments. In negotiations, it’s been shown that people are far more concerned with suffering a loss than making a gain.

How to minimize it: Focus on the positives rather than the negatives because, when we really look at things, most of us have more positive than negative experiences. Look for opportunities to learn in difficult times.

Taking Stock

“We would all like to have a warning bell that rings loudly whenever we are about to make a serious error, but no such bell is available,” according to Daniel Kahneman. But, with a healthy dose of his “System 2,” slow, deliberate thinking, we can at least recognize and hopefully minimize the effects of these all-too-human biases.

Take time to examine the kinds of biases that you might have. Even if you feel like you’re bias-free, look at the Wikipedia list of cognitive biases. With more than 150 biases listed, you’re sure to find one that affects you. Sorry, but there’s no escaping being human.

Examine your behaviors and attitudes or, better yet, and ask a trusted colleague or friend to give you feedback. You’ll probably be surprised at what you hear but it’s good information for making needed changes that are sure to improve your life.