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Do you feel safer on a plane or in a car? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Do you fear sharks or mosquitos? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Statistically, planes and sharks are disproportionately safer, but with our availability bias, we tend to believe otherwise. You can’t avoid cognitive biases but you can learn to manage them for better relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n Mosquitoes have killed more people in a day than sharks in 100 years, and statistics show that planes are far safer than cars. <\/span><\/p>\n What other fears and irrational conclusions do you make every day? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n The more you know about your biases, the more you can wisely manage them. <\/span><\/p>\n Everything we experience in life is an interpretation based on our past experiences. From the moment we are born, we learn to apply judgment and concepts to function in the world. <\/span><\/p>\n As this article on “<\/span>reality is constructed by your brain<\/span><\/a>” demonstrates, our brains constantly adjust to sensory information. We don’t have the right machinery to interpret all the information accurately, so we take shortcuts, often subconsciously. <\/span><\/p>\n In the same way, we can fall victim to optical illusions. We are subjected to cognitive biases in everyday life. If you have a human brain, there’s no getting away from them. <\/span><\/p>\n So, what is cognitive bias? According to the<\/span> Encyclopaedia of Behavioral Neuroscience, cognitive bias definition<\/span><\/a> states that such biases are when “human thinking and reasoning does not comply with the tenets of logic, probability reasoning, and plausibility.” <\/span><\/p>\n In other words, cognitive biases are errors in thinking when processing information that leads us to wrong conclusions. This type of thinking is usually unconscious. Moreover, psychologist Daniel Kahneman famously called this our system one thinking in his book<\/span> Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n There are hundreds of different types of biases in psychology, but it’s worth noting implicit bias, which differs slightly. Where cognitive bias in psychology refers to our automatic, fast thinking processes, implicit bias relates to stereotypes and our beliefs about, for example, gender, race, and sexuality. <\/span><\/p>\n All these implicit and cognitive biases come from our brains being designed to spot patterns and quickly draw conclusions. It’s very useful at times but it can also be detrimental to relationships. <\/span><\/p>\n The good news is that you can learn to observe your biases, so they no longer control you. <\/span><\/p>\n Another way to look at the “what is cognitive bias” question is to consider how many assumptions you make every day. While there are hundreds of different types of cognitive bias, the following signs are typical of most.<\/span><\/p>\n Psychological biases are rooted in jumping to conclusions. For instance, if your date is a lawyer, do you automatically assume they make a lot of money? <\/span><\/p>\n What about when you see them checking their watch as soon as you arrive at the “in-laws,” and you assume they will leave you in the lurch?<\/span><\/p>\n All this leads to misunderstanding and conflict. <\/span><\/p>\n What are cognitive biases? They are the brain’s way of explaining things when you don’t have all the information. We make assumptions about people rather than looking for external factors that might have driven their behaviors. <\/span><\/p>\n For example, it’s easy to think your partner is lazy or incompetent because they couldn’t pick up the kids. It’s just what the mind does. <\/span><\/p>\n Instead, force yourself to consider factors outside their control that might have impacted their ability to complete their task. <\/span><\/p>\n The cognitive bias examples in the next section will show how biases spur us to ignore other viewpoints. We fixate on whatever information we’ve chosen and assume it’s true without questioning it. <\/span><\/p>\n Remember that if you’re telling yourself that you never have tunnel vision, you’re experiencing a cognitive bias. Again, you can’t escape this if you have a human brain. <\/span><\/p>\n Another way to explore the question “what are cognitive biases” is to consider emotions. Not only can you experience emotional biases such as loss aversion, but cognitive bias usually leads to some emotional response. <\/span><\/p>\n That’s why it’s hard to let go of our biases. We often become emotionally attached to our conclusions and decisions and don’t like to challenge ourselves to consider other viewpoints. <\/span><\/p>\n This takes effort and an assumption that we could be wrong. After all, we are biased to believe that we’re right. <\/span><\/p>\n Psychological biases blind us and make us slaves to our brains. As we don’t naturally look for data or different viewpoints, we, in effect, limit ourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>Cognitive biases explained <\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Five traits of cognitive bias in action <\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Judging too quickly <\/b><\/h3>\n
2. Blaming external factors <\/b><\/h3>\n
3. Tunnel vision <\/b><\/h3>\n
4. Emotional reactions <\/b><\/h3>\n
5. No facts <\/b><\/h3>\n
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