Each and every day we are faced with a multitude of decisions.
Some of these are relatively small, such as deciding what to wear or what to have for breakfast.
Some decisions take time while others must be made in a split-second.
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Discover which decision-making mistakes and obstacles might be influencing the choices you make each and every day.
Aheuristicis a sort of mental shortcut or rule of thumb that we utilize when making a judgment or decision.
Heuristics come with a couple of major advantages.
First, they allow us to reach conclusions quickly.
Second, heuristics also tend to work quite frequently.
But as with all kinds of shortcuts, they can sometimes have disadvantages.
They can sometimes lead us to make mistakes and misjudge situations.
So why do people tend to be overconfident in their judgments?
One example of this overconfidence is a pop in of cognitive bias known as theDunning-Kruger effect.
This bias causes people to overestimate their own intelligence and abilities, essentially blinding them to their own incompetence.
No matter what the cause, this tendency to overestimate our own knowledge can lead topoor decisions.
Imagine that you are traveling to Las Vegas with a friend.
Unfortunately, you misremembered the route and the exit turns out to be the wrong one.
As a result, you might make future decisions based on the information you learned from past mistakes.
Illusory Correlation
Whenmaking decisions, we sometimes see relationships that do not really exist.
This tendency to see relationships where none exist is known in psychology as anillusory correlation.
In addition to leading to faulty beliefs, illusory correlations can also cause problems in the decision-making process.
Being aware of some of these potential pitfalls might help you make better decisions in the future.
Dale S.Heuristics and biases.Bus Inf Rev.
2018;63:11-28. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2018.06.002
Bazerman MH.
Judgment and decision making.
In Biswas-Diener, R, Diener E, eds.Noba Textbook Series: Psychology.
Champaign, IL: DEF Publishers; 2018.
