Cognitive Bias

The halo effect is a cognitive bias whereby our general impression of an individual determines what we think and feel about the individual’s character thus impacting on our evaluations of the individuals particular attributes. This is also referred to as the physical attractiveness stereotype where one is coerced to believe that beautiful is good. This plays out in our daily lives and more so in our environment setup, for instance, in a classroom, a tutor tends to believe that a bright student is one who is well behaved and always on task, whereas a student who is not always on task does not understand material, which in reality is not a true reflection of the students’ abilities. 

Self-serving bias is a cognitive bias where an individual tends to attribute good happenings to self and attribute bad happenings to external forces. In a classroom setting, this can be evident when a learner scores an A in an essay test, where the learner will attribute this success to his/ her own brilliance thus internal attribution and on the contrary, if the learner scores poorly in the essay test, this will be attributed to the tutor’s or the professor’s poor explanation of the requirements for the essay thus external attribution. 

False Consensus is the tendency of an individual to overestimate the commonality of how others agree with you either through an individual’s abilities or successful behaviors. From a positive perspective, this kind of bias protects one from depression and also reduces anxiety but looking at it from a maladaptive perspective, this bias causes unhappiness in one’s life as those who are perceived of such traits are considered deceitful, egotistical and people who never learn from their mistakes. 

Optimism bias is a type of cognitive bias that leads one to believe that he/ she is more likely to be successful than the peers and less likely to be a subject of misfortune. This kind of bias can lead t poor decision making which can result in disastrous outcomes. From an adaptive perspective, optimism bias leads to boosted self-esteem, generally better health and well-being and reduced stress levels. 

Cognitive biases are normal defense mechanisms which are ego-protective, risk-avoidant, and self-preserving. These traits are not born of malicious intent or ignorance, but rather work to maintain favorable perceptions and illusions about ourselves. Thus individuals should seek to know the ‘unvarnished truth’ of our own ways by understanding these biases. In this manner, we are more likely to understand how our brains work and therefore, this will allow us to be more empathetic with others and thus we can easily locate our blind spots.

Works Cited

Cherry, K. (n.d.). How Cognitive Biases Influence How You Think and Act. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963