What causes biases in thinking and decision-making?

There are common biases that affect everyday decision-making. Decision-making bias is the inclination to make decisions based on emotions and notions, rather than facts and logical reasoning. According to psychologist Calvin Lai, decision-making bias is “a tendency to respond one way compared to another when making some life choices.”  Biases are often unintentional, but they could undermine and deter equitable judgment. This article will cover the summary of each of these biases and how they affect thinking and decision-making.

What are the biases that affect decision-making?

Five common types of biases affect an individual in decision-making. These include: 

• Similarity Bias: It influences our decisions regarding people. Similarity bias occurs when we create ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’ based on people. In-groups are people who are similar to ourselves, which could mean circumstances, education, and more. We often show beneficial views towards the ‘in-groups’ and are much more doubtful of the ‘out-groups’. 

• Expedience Bias: Humans tend to rush to judgment without considering the facts. It is a fast, intuitive process that makes decisions based on what information is easily accessible. 

• Experience Bias: Humans are inclined to believe that their experience and beliefs of things are the only factual truth. However, this is often proven wrong as many individuals have different outlooks on a certain situation. 

• Distance Bias: It is the instinct to prioritize matters that are physically and emotionally nearby while ignoring issues that are far away. It’s a natural bias because our brain focuses on what feels relevant, but it can somehow lead to much more unfair decisions. 

• Safety Bias: It refers to the human bias to avoid loss. Many studies show that individuals tend to prefer gaining money to losing money. However, in some cases, riskier choices could lead to a better outcome. 

What causes these biases in the decision-making process?

As said before, biases are mostly unintentional. They are caused by the human brain trying to process information at a rapid speed while trying to use a ‘mental shortcut’. They are caused by our personal experiences, stereotypes, and cultural background. Other factors can contribute to these biases: emotions, individual motivations, and societal pressures. 

Are biases bad? 

Biases have the potential to do the most harm, when acted on by individuals of power, for example, healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and more. These biases can lead to large inequality and treatment differences between groups of people, because of biases and stereotypes. One example of a bias in an employment situation is when Clara Wilkins, assistant professor of psychology and brain sciences at the University of Washington, conducted a study that indicated that men who held status-legalized biases penalized women when reviewing job applications after being exposed to an article where men were shown to be discriminated against. 

Another real-life example provided by Wilkins was the backlash against Obama’s presidency. There were more than a handful of threats from men that were opposed to his presidency and power over the United States, as it is ‘potentially disrupting traditional power dynamics’. These biases are often held so deeply that show individuals believe it increases rights and advantages towards their beliefs, and disadvantages to the other group, or the ‘out-group’. Often, these biases are engraved deeply, causing it to be unintentional, and yet make irrational decisions that affect the behavior. 

Conclusion 

Although these biases are unintentional and often a form of irrational thinking, especially in conspiracy theory beliefs. However, psychologists have also proven that bias is an advantageous solution to an issue. For example,  it serves an adaptive purpose to reach decisions quickly, in such cases when an individual is placed in a dangerous situation. Bias can always be avoided, in some cases such as being aware of bias, considering all factors before making a decision, challenging our bias, and others. 

Reference List

“5 Biases That Impact Decision-Making | Lifepoint Health.” Lifepoint Health, 2021, www.lifepointhealth.net/news/5-biases-that-impact-decision-making.

“9 Decision-Making Biases to Recognize and Address.” Indeed Career Guide, www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/decision-making-biases.

Cherry, Kendra. “How Cognitive Biases Influence the Way You Think and Act.” Verywell Mind, 7 May 2024, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963.

“Common Decision-Making Biases - the University of Auckland.” Www.auckland.ac.nz, University of Auckland , www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/equity-at-the-university/equity-information-for-staff/unconscious-bias/common-decision-making-biases-.html.

“Decision-Making Bias - Definition and Explanation.” The Oxford Review - or Briefings, 15 Oct. 2024, oxford-review.com/the-oxford-review-dei-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dictionary/decision-making-bias-definition-and-explanation/.

“How Bias Can Affect Decision Making.” Career Development , 16 Mar. 2023. Chartered Professional Accountants British Columbia , www.bccpa.ca/news-events/cpabc-newsroom/2023/march/how-bias-can-affect-decision-making/.

Miyatsu, Rose. “Understanding Your Biases.” Psychological & Brain Sciences, 25 Apr. 2019, psych.wustl.edu/news/understanding-your-biases.

Weller, Chris. “The 5 Biggest Biases That Affect Decision-Making.” NeuroLeadership Institute, 9 Apr. 2019, neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/seeds-model-biases-affect-decision-making/.