It involves making judgments by comparing the current situations to concepts we already have in mind.
This shortcut can speed up thedecision-makingprocess, but it can also lead to poor choices and stereotypes.
Fortunately, being aware of this bias and actively trying to avoid it can help.
Verywell / Cindy Chung
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What Is the Representativeness Heuristic?
This prototype is what we think is the most relevant or typical example of a particular event or object.
The problem is that people often overestimate the similarity between the two things they compare.
However, it can also lead to errors.
Participants were then asked to determine Tom’s college major.
Based on the description provided by the researchers, many participants concluded that Tom must be an engineering major.
Because Tom was representative of what the participants expected from an engineering student.
He fit the description, so to speak.
Tversky and Kahneman’s study demonstrated how influential the representativeness heuristic can be when making decisions and judgments.
What Causes the Representativeness Heuristic?
There are several different factors that can play a role in the use of representativeness when making judgments.
To make the most of what we have, we rely on heuristics.
These shortcuts allow us to conserve mental resources and still make decisions quickly and efficiently.
Such schemas are based on past learning.
We can also change our existing categories based on the new things we learn.
If an existing schema doesn’t adequately account for the current situation, it can lead to poor judgments.
They overestimated the importance of the similarity between Tom and their mental prototype.
For example
In the Workplace
The heuristic can affect decisions made in the workplace.
In Social Relationships
Representativeness can affect the judgments we make when meeting new people.
What Are the Effects of the Representativeness Heuristic?
The representativeness heuristic is pervasive and can play a major role in many real-lifedecisions and judgments.
In many cases, this can lead to poor judgments that can have serious consequences.
The representativeness heuristic is thought to play a role inracial biasin the criminal justice system.
Unfortunately, this can lead professionals to overestimate similarity and ignore other relevant information.
Interpersonal Perceptions
This heuristic can also play a role in our assessments about other people.
We tend to develop ideas about how people in certain roles should behave.
Would you think that Steve was a librarian or a farmer?
Like most of us, most participants immediately picked librarian based entirely on representativeness.
A farmer, for example, might be seen as hard-working, outdoorsy, and tough.
A librarian, on the other hand, might be viewed as being quiet, organized, and reserved.
The prototypes people hold can become stereotypes, which leads people to make prejudiced judgments of other people.
Such stereotypes can also lead tosystemic discriminationagainst different groups of people.
This can help you make more accurate judgments in your day-to-day life.
Things you could do include:
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