We like to think that we are in control of our minds and make rational decisions; this assumption cannot be farther from the truth. With a complex interplay of feelings, past experiences and biases, the human mind is anything, but simple.
Although patterns of thought and beliefs categorize information and process it efficiently, they can lead us to many irrational decisions.
We at Blossom Hypnotherapy have prepared a list of 5 subconscious biases. Knowing that we make these faulty assumptions at the time of decision making can help us remain wary of these biases:
Confirmation Bias
Ever wondered why you and your friends have similar movie interests or like similar sports? You may not have thought about it, but you are more likely to be friends with people who have the same beliefs as you. What this means is that we ignore information that we do not agree with and focus on information that confirms our worldview.
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Sunk costs refer to any costs (in money, time and effort) that have been borne and cannot be recovered. Imagine you have paid for a movie and are at the cinema, but you don’t like the movie. However, if you are like most people, you are more likely to stay as you have paid for it. Rationally speaking, the cost was already borne.
Gambler’s Fallacy
Past happenings have nothing to do with likelihood of future outcomes. If a coin flip has been heads in the last 5 instances, does not make it more likely that the 6th flip will be tails. The chances are 50-50 on all flips, regardless of previous results. This fallacy is called gambler’s fallacy as the gamblers falsely perceive that because they have lost two times or thousand times, for that matter, they are more likely to hit the jackpot this time.
The Anchoring Effect
The anchoring effect is one of the more common glitches in our decision making process. Instead of considering real, objective features of an option, we tend to give importance to its comparative value – that is, if it’s a better option than the other one.
Dan Ariely, a behavior economist, conducted an experiment to illustrate this phenomenon. He set up a booth and sold two kinds of chocolates: Hershey’s Kisses for a penny and Lindt Truffles for 15 cents.
Considering that the better deal would be Truffles, majority of the people bought them. Smart, right?
However, things got interesting when he reduced prices of both chocolates by one cent. That meant the Kisses were now free, whereas the Truffles would cost 14 cents. Truffles would still have been a better deal, but now since the Kisses were free, most people bought them.
The Availability Heuristic
The assumption of the availability heuristic is that things that are more easily brought to awareness are more likely to be believed.
Consider this: after reading a page of text, you are asked if there were more words that ended in ‘ing’ or more words that had ‘n’ as their second-last letter. Since ‘ing’ words are easier to recall, you are more likely to choose it as an answer. However, if you read the question once more, you will realize that this can’t possibly be true.
With thorough expertise of the workings of the subconscious mind, Rekha Shrivastava offers hypnotic treatment for mental illnesses. From weight loss programs to stress management, she has helped clients with a wide variety of issues in Pittsford, New York. Get in touch to learn more about her services.
Sources
https://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/03/25/the-sunk-cost-fallacy/
https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2014/may/01/unconscious-bias-women-holding-back-work
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