Our brains process millions of bits of information every minute. It is a powerful processing machine that can create, learn, imitate, and so much more. But it canât do everything. In order to make all the decisions you need to make in a day, your brain doesnât sit and analyze every piece of new data or bit of information it takes in. It takes shortcuts.
Sometimes, these shortcuts are helpful, like when you fall back on habits instead of thinking through every step of your morning routine. Other times, they can be harmful. Cognitive Biases are some of the shortcuts your brain makes instead of fully processing and analyzing a situation. They can range from harmless to annoying to outright dangerous.
Knowing how to identify cognitive biases and put a stop to them will help you become more aware of yourself and your environment, make decisions based on the truth instead of your perception of the situation, and help you live a healthier, more balanced life.
This article will give a list of cognitive biases with examples of each, and then show you how to combat each bias.
What Is Cognitive Bias?
Cognitive biases occur because our brains are not infallible. They make mistakes and get tired. Sometimes our memory, attention, and event processing arenât working at 100% for some reason, and a cognitive bias can take place.
A cognitive bias is an error in thinking. Everyone has cognitive biases, and having them does not make you a bad person. Your brain is seeking short cuts to help you understand all the information being thrown at you. This is understandable! However, when left untreated, cognitive biases can transform into something hurtful.
Cognitive biases are at the root of many harmful stereotypes. They are also very common in mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, grief, and more.
7 Cognitive Bias Examples
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There are around 180 cognitive biases, but this number is always growing as we find and label more errors in our thinking and processing. We wonât list all of them, but here are seven of the most common cognitive biases:
The Confirmation Bias
The tendency to seek out, interpret, and remember information that supports your existing beliefs while ignoring evidence that contradicts them.
Examples:
- Only getting your news from one source, and saying all other sources are wrong.
- Believing that you are a bad person, sp you only focus on your mistakes. When prompted, youâre unable or unwilling to talk about your successes.
- A coworker believes women are too emotional to hold high-management jobs, and always points out when women in the office express emotions as a result.
Confirmation bias is one of the most common cognitive biases. It makes sense; itâs more comfortable to be right, after all. But stretching ourselves to take in new information and consider other angles is important for our intellect, empathy, and growth. Try to expand beyond your beliefs today. How does it feel?
The Hindsight Bias
The inclination to see past events as having been more predictable than they actually were, often summed up as âI knew it all along.â The common phrase, âhindsight being 20/20â is used to describe this.
- After breaking up, you exclaim to your friends that you âsaw their red flags all alongâ.
- Your team submits a project with mistakes in it, and afterwards your coworker says that they knew the project needed revisions, even if they didnât say anything at the time of submission.
- A classmate gets a tricky answer right. Despite seeing them struggle with it, they proclaim confidently, âKnew it!â.
Are these people gaslighting you? No, they likely fully believe that they knew what was going to happen before it did. The Hindsight Bias protects us from failure, but failure is how we learn and grow. Embrace failure today as a tool to get you where you want to be, not as something to be ashamed of.
The Anchoring Bias
The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the âanchorâ) when making decisions or estimates. We might elevate the first piece of information we see as âtrueâ despite no other evidence suggesting that, and then continue to frame the rest of what we receive in the context of that first âtrueâ fact.
- Skimming the first paragraph of an article or AI overview and taking it as fact instead of reading the rest of the content.
- Making a snap judgement on someone and believing that is who they are, despite further evidence that they were just having a bad day or had something else going on that may have interfered with their first impression.
- Choosing a college or job because it was the first one that made an impression on you, not because it was the best one.
We all want to feel secure in our decisions, and the anchoring bias helps with that. Instead of believing the first thing you say, take the time to examine what you hold as resolute facts. Why do you believe this? What else could be true?
The Sunk Cost Fallacy
The urge to continue investing in something (time, money, effort) simply because youâve already invested in it, even when itâs no longer beneficial.
- Continuing with a major house renovation despite it costing way over budget, just because you already sunk a few thousand dollars into it.
- Gamblers continue to spend more money just because theyâve already spent a lot.
- Working on an artistic project that you know is a failure just because youâve already spent hours on it.
- Staying in a relationship you're not happy with just because youâve already spent years with this person and donât want to âwasteâ that time.
The idea of âwastedâ time, energy, or money is at the heart of the sunk cost fallacy. We hate wasting resourcesâunderstandably so! But we have to rationalize this cognitive bias with the truth that sinking more resources into a doomed project will only waste more resources than it will save.
The False Consensus Effect
The tendency to overestimate how much other people share your beliefs, values, or behaviors.
- Believing more people share your political beliefs than they do, and that the other side is just a small minority.
- Someone might believe their cultural norm is shared by most other people, and think others who donât share that cultural norm are the weird ones or the odd ones out.
- You believe your partner will love to hike just because you do, and are disheartened when the surprise hike you take them on isnât received well.
Community is deeply important to human beings. We want to look around and think that we are part of an in-group that is big, strong, and numerous. But humans are diverse and varied in our culture, preferences, and ways of thinking. Try to be comfortable with the idea that you might be the odd one out. There is, after all, nothing wrong with this.
Gamblerâs Fallacy
The mistaken belief that past random events influence future ones, such as thinking a coin is âdueâ to land heads after several tails in a row. This is false, since a coin will always have a 50% chance to land heads, no matter how many times it has landed tails before.
- Believing that youâll land a job interview just because itâs your tenth one and youâre due for an acceptance.
- Choosing âCâ on a test because it hasnât been selected in a while.
- Believing your next pregnancy will be a girl just because youâve had three boys already.
The Gamblerâs Fallacy is a dangerous cognitive bias because it is all based on luck and chance. You donât actually understand the powers of probability when you make a decision based on the gambler's fallacy. When you are tempted to do so, take a breath and consider the facts. What do you know about the situation? How can you act based on what you know to be true rather than what you want to happen?
The Self-Serving Bias
The habit of attributing successes to your own abilities and efforts while blaming failures on external factors outside your control.
- Taking full credit for a projectâs success, but blaming your team or poor management if it fails.
- Taking credit for avoiding an accident due to your quick reflexes, but blaming traffic or other drivers when you cause one.
- Seeing yourself as the reason a relationship thrives, but blaming the other person entirely if it ends.
The self-serving bias can make it difficult to form relationships and work with people, because you constantly see other people as the problem. This lack of self-reflection and self-awareness will eventually stunt your professional, relational, and personal growth. Instead, take an honest and candid look at yourself. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
How to Spot Cognitive Bias
Cognitive biases are deeply rooted in our thought processes, so how can you spot one effectively? Most of them are based around decision-making, so before you make a big decision, stop and examine your thought processes. Consider:
- Am I examining all of the facts?
- Am I making a decision emotionally or logically?
- Would my reasoning make sense if I explained it to someone else?
- Is there something Iâm purposefully ignoring because it makes me uncomfortable?
- Will this decision hurt someone else?
This isnât a foolproof way to identify cognitive biases. There are exceptions to each of these questions, but asking yourself them will help you practice the self-awareness you need to identify cognitive biases.
How to Fix Cognitive Bias
Stopping a cognitive bias takes self-awareness, control, and a willingness to accept help or admit wrong.
- Self-awareness: Understand when your thought process is flawed.
- Control: Donât make a decision based on a flawed thought process. Instead, wait until you have all the facts.
- Admit wrong: Ask for help or clarification when you donât have all the facts. Lean on your support system for help navigating a decision that is rife with cognitive biases.
You can also talk to a licensed therapist. Cognitive biases often go hand in hand with cognitive distortions, which are the backbone of many mental health disorders.
Lifebulb Counseling has therapists near you with open availability and who accept most major insurances. Donât wait to seek help today. Contact our team or browse our list of therapists near you.
