The authority bias is the tendency to obey the orders of an authority figure, even when you strongly believe that there is something wrong with those orders. Experiments show that this tendency is much more powerful than most people assume, and in the following article you will learn how this bias affects people, and …
Read moreAuthority Bias: What We Can Learn from the Milgram Obedience Experiments
The handicap principle is the idea that in order to guarantee honesty in communication, the signals that you make must be costly in some way. Therefore, if you want to showcase your strength, you must be willing to pay a price, and the greater the price, the more reliable your show of strength will …
Read moreThe Handicap Principle: Why Accepting a Disadvantage is a Show of Strength
The halo effect is a cognitive bias that causes our impression of someone in one area to influence our opinion of that person in other areas. For example, it can cause us to think that someone is more interesting if we find them physically attractive, and vice versa. This effect is widely prevalent, and influences …
Read moreThe Halo Effect: Why We Often Judge a Book by its Cover
In a perfectly rational world, people who encounter evidence which challenges their beliefs would first evaluate this evidence, and then adjust their beliefs accordingly. However, in reality this is seldom the case. Often, when people encounter evidence that should cause them to doubt their beliefs, they reject this evidence, and strengthen their support for their original …
Read moreThe Backfire Effect: Why Facts Don’t Always Change Minds
The spotlight effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to think that they are being observed and noticed by others more than they actually are. People experience this bias because they naturally see everything from their own point of view first, so they struggle to imagine how they look through other people’s perspective. …
Read moreThe Spotlight Effect: How to Stop Being Self Conscious All the Time
The illusion of transparency is a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate the degree to which other people can read their emotional state. This cognitive bias is attributed to our inability to properly adjust from the anchor of our own point of view when attempting to see ourselves from another person’s perspective. Essentially, since …
Read moreThe Illusion of Transparency: Why You Are Not As Obvious As You Think You Are