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behavioural biases
While biases are typically viewed as cognitive distortions that can lead to irrational decision-making, they can be harnessed in a positive manner to improve society. We have compiled the behavioural biases which are backed by evidence and can be used to leverage positive behaviour change.
Affect Heuristic
The tendency to rely on emotions and feelings when making judgments or decisions, rather than engaging in logical reasoning.
How can the Affect Heuristic, be used to Improve Society?
Leveraging positive emotions and creating experiences that evoke positive affect can increase engagement with health-promoting activities and encourage individuals to make healthier choices.
Ambiguity Effect
The tendency to avoid options or situations with uncertain outcomes and instead favour options with known probabilities, even if the uncertain option may have a higher expected value.
How can the Ambiguity Effect, be used to Improve Society?
Designing products or services that provide clear and transparent information, reducing uncertainty and promoting informed decision-making. This can help individuals make choices that benefit their health and wellbeing by empowering them with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions.
Anchoring Bias
The tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the "anchor") when making decisions, even if that information is irrelevant or misleading.
How can the Anchoring Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Presenting health-related information with an appropriate and influential "anchor" can guide individuals towards healthier options or behaviours by setting favourable reference points.
Availability Heuristic
The tendency to rely on immediate examples or easily accessible information to assess the likelihood or frequency of an event, often leading to an overestimation of its probability.
How can the Availability Heuristic, be used to Improve Society?
Highlighting easily accessible health-related information, such as success stories, testimonials, or local resources, can make health-promoting options feel more readily available and encourage their adoption.
Bandwagon Effect
The tendency to adopt certain beliefs, behaviours, or trends simply because many others are doing so, without critically evaluating them.
How can the Anchoring Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Framing health-related behaviours as popular and socially desirable can harness the bandwagon effect to motivate individuals to adopt those behaviours, as people often want to conform to social norms.
Bounded Rationality
The idea that human decision-making is limited by cognitive abilities, information constraints, and time constraints, often resulting in decisions that are satisfactory but not necessarily optimal.
How can Bounded Rationality be used to Improve Society?
Recognising that individuals have limited cognitive abilities and information processing capacity, products and services can be designed to simplify choices and present information in a clear and concise manner. This can help individuals make better decisions regarding their health and well-being without overwhelming them with excessive complexity.
Choice Overload
The negative effect of having too many choices, which can lead to decision paralysis, dissatisfaction with the chosen option, or a tendency to avoid making a decision altogether.
How can Choice Overload, be used to Improve Society?
To overcome decision paralysis caused by an overwhelming number of options, products and services can curate a smaller set of choices that are most relevant to an individual's health and well-being goals. This helps individuals make decisions more easily and increases the likelihood of selecting options that align with their needs.
Decision Fatigue
The decline in the quality of decision-making and self-control that occurs after making a series of decisions or exerting mental effort over an extended period, leading to impulsivity or avoidance of decision-making.
How can Decision Fatigue be used to Improve Society?
Recognising that decision-making abilities can be depleted after prolonged decision-making, products and services can simplify choices, streamline decision processes, or provide decision-making support to reduce decision fatigue and encourage healthier choices.
Extrinsic Incentive Bias
The tendency to overestimate the effectiveness or impact of external rewards or punishments on motivation and behaviour, while underestimating intrinsic factors.
How can Extrinsic Incentive Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Taking advantage of the tendency to be influenced by external rewards or punishments, products and services can incorporate extrinsic incentives, such as gamification, rewards programs, or social recognition, to motivate individuals to adopt and maintain health-promoting behaviours.
Framing Effect
The way information is presented or "framed" can significantly influence decision-making, as people tend to react differently to the same information depending on how it is presented (e.g., positively or negatively).
How can the Framing Effect be used to Improve Society?
By framing health-related choices, messages, or information in a positive, gain-oriented manner, the framing effect can be used to encourage individuals to adopt health-promoting behaviours. Emphasising the benefits, rewards, and positive outcomes associated with such behaviours can be influential.
Halo Effect
The cognitive bias where a positive impression or judgment in one area influences overall perception or evaluation of a person, object, or concept.
How can the Halo Effect, be used to Improve Society?
Leveraging the halo effect, products, and services can associate positive qualities or attributes with health-promoting behaviours, products, or brands. By creating positive associations, individuals may perceive these choices more favourably and be more likely to adopt them.
Hindsight Bias
The tendency, after an event has occurred, to perceive the event as having been predictable or expected, leading to an overestimation of one's ability to have foreseen the outcome.
How can the Hindsight Bias be used to Improve Society?
By highlighting past successes and accomplishments, individuals can be encouraged to believe in their ability to achieve positive health and well-being outcomes. This can motivate them to take action and make positive changes.
IKEA Effect
The tendency to overvalue and have greater attachment to self-assembled or self-created products, experiences, or ideas due to the effort involved in their creation.
How can the IKEA Effect, be used to Improve Society?
By involving individuals in the creation or customisation of products or services related to health and well-being, such as personalised meal plans or exercise routines, people are more likely to feel a sense of ownership and attachment. This can enhance motivation and engagement in adopting and maintaining healthy behaviours.
In-group Bias
The tendency to favour individuals or groups that belong to the same social, cultural, or ideological group as oneself, often leading to biased judgments or behaviour.
How can the In-group Bias be used to Improve Society?
By fostering a sense of community and belonging, interventions can tap into the in-group bias to promote health-enhancing behaviours. Creating supportive social networks, group challenges, or shared goals can motivate individuals to adopt and maintain healthy habits.
Less-is-Better Effect
The preference for options or choices that are simpler, require less effort, or have fewer features, even when more complex options may offer greater benefits or value.
How can the Less-is-Better Effect, be used to Improve Society?
Simplifying health-related choices and presenting them as straightforward options can leverage the less-is-better effect. Streamlining product offerings, designing user-friendly interfaces, or providing clear recommendations can help individuals make decisions that align with their health goals.
Mere Exposure Effect
The phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus, person, or concept increases familiarity and liking or preference for that stimulus.
How can the Mere Exposure Effect be used to Improve Society?
By repeatedly exposing individuals to positive health-related messages, products, or experiences, this bias can be utilised to increase familiarity and preference for healthy behaviours. For instance, advertising campaigns that showcase healthy lifestyles and habits can create a positive association and make those behaviours more appealing.
Optimism Bias
The tendency to be overly optimistic about the likelihood of positive events happening to oneself and underestimating the likelihood of negative events, leading to unrealistic expectations or risk-taking behaviour.
How can the Optimism Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Recognising individuals' tendency to be overly optimistic about positive outcomes, interventions can frame health-related choices and behaviours in an optimistic light. By emphasising the potential benefits and positive outcomes of adopting healthier habits, individuals may be more motivated to engage in those behaviours.
Peak-end Rule
The tendency for people to judge or remember an experience based on the most intense or peak moment of the experience and its end, rather than the overall average of the experience.
How can the Peak-end Rule be used to Improve Society?
By designing health-related experiences to end on a positive note and incorporating memorable peak moments, interventions can enhance individuals' overall perception and memory of those experiences. This can contribute to greater satisfaction, engagement, and adherence to healthy behaviours.
Planning Fallacy
The cognitive bias where individuals consistently underestimate the time, effort, or resources required to complete a future task or project.
How can the Planning Fallacy, be used to Improve Society?
Understanding that people tend to underestimate the time and effort required for tasks, products or services can incorporate reminders, notifications, and support systems to help individuals stay on track and meet their goals.
Primacy Effect
The tendency to better remember or give more importance to information or experiences that are encountered first in a series, compared to subsequent information.
How can the Primacy Effect be used to Improve Society?
Considering the impact of initial experiences, products or services can focus on providing positive and engaging first interactions to set a favourable tone and encourage continued engagement.
Salience Bias
The tendency to give disproportionate attention to information or stimuli that are vivid, emotionally charged, or easily accessible in memory.
How can the Salience Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Understanding that people pay more attention to prominent information, products or services can highlight relevant health and well-being cues, such as calorie counts, health benefits, or visual reminders, to encourage healthier choices.
Action Bias
The tendency to prefer taking action or making a decision rather than doing nothing, even when inaction might be the better choice.
How can Action Bias be used to Improve Society?
By emphasising the importance of taking action towards health and well-being, such as promoting physical activity or encouraging regular check-ups, individuals can be motivated to engage in positive behaviours.
Attentional Bias
The tendency to selectively focus on certain aspects of information while ignoring or minimising others, often influenced by personal interests, emotions, or preconceived notions.
How can the Attentional Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Directing attention towards health-related information, such as through public health campaigns or targeted advertising, can increase awareness and knowledge, leading to healthier choices.
Base Rate Fallacy
The tendency to underemphasise or ignore general statistical information (base rates) and instead focus on specific, anecdotal information when making judgments or decisions.
How can the Base Rate Fallacy be used to Improve Society?
By providing people with accurate and easily accessible statistical information about risks, benefits, or probabilities, products and services can help individuals make more informed decisions that align with their health and well-being goals.
Bundling Bias
The tendency to perceive bundled or packaged options as more attractive or valuable than individual options, even if the individual options offer better value separately.
How can the Bundling Bias, be used to Improve Society?
By bundling desirable products or services with those that promote health and well-being, individuals are more likely to choose the bundled option. For example, a fitness tracker bundled with a subscription to a healthy meal delivery service can encourage individuals to engage in regular physical activity and maintain a nutritious diet.
Bye-Now Effect
The tendency to underestimate the amount of time and effort required to complete a future task or project, leading to procrastination or delays.
How can the Bye-Now Effect be used to Improve Society?
Understanding that individuals tend to discount future benefits and prioritise immediate gratification, products and services can emphasise the short-term advantages of health-promoting behaviours. This could include offering immediate rewards or incentives for engaging in activities that benefit their health and well-being.
Category Size Bias
The tendency to overestimate the prevalence or importance of categories that are larger or more noticeable, while underestimating those that are smaller or less salient.
How can the Category Size Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Highlighting the prevalence or popularity of health-conscious choices can influence individuals to perceive these options as more desirable. By presenting health-promoting products or services as widely adopted or endorsed by others, it can create a sense of social proof and encourage individuals to adopt similar behaviours.
Commitment Bias
The tendency to stick with a decision or course of action, even when it no longer appears to be the best option, due to a desire to remain consistent with past choices or commitments.
How can the Commitment Bias be used to Improve Society?
By leveraging individuals' desire for consistency and commitment, products and services can use techniques such as goal setting, reminders, and progress tracking to encourage sustained engagement in health-promoting behaviours. This creates a sense of obligation and increases the likelihood of individuals following through with their initial commitments.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to seek, interpret, or remember information in a way that confirms pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses while ignoring or discounting contradictory evidence.
How can Confirmation Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Recognising individuals' tendency to seek and interpret information that confirms their existing beliefs, health-related interventions can frame messages and evidence in a way that aligns with individuals' preconceptions. This can help overcome resistance to change and encourage adoption of health-promoting behaviours.
Decoy Effect
The phenomenon where adding a less desirable option to a set of choices can influence decision-makers to choose a particular option that would have otherwise been less favoured.
How can the Decoy Effect be used to Improve Society?
By strategically presenting a third, less attractive option (decoy) alongside two options, the decoy effect can be used to influence decision-making. This can guide individuals towards healthier choices by making them more appealing in comparison to the decoy option.
Distinction Bias
The tendency to perceive two options as more different from each other when evaluated together than when evaluated separately, leading to a preference for the more distinct option.
How can Distinction Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Leveraging the distinction bias, products and services can emphasise the unique and desirable features or benefits of health-promoting options. By highlighting the distinct advantages of these choices, individuals may be more inclined to select them.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
The cognitive bias where individuals with low ability or knowledge in a particular domain overestimate their competence, while those with high ability or knowledge may underestimate their competence.
How can the Dunning-Kruger Effect be used to Improve Society?
Addressing the Dunning-Kruger effect involves providing accurate feedback, benchmarks, or external evaluations to individuals. This can help individuals gain a more realistic perception of their abilities and competence, leading to more informed decision-making regarding health and well-being.
Empathy Gap
The tendency to underestimate the influence of emotional states or desires on decision-making when in a different emotional state, leading to poor predictions or inconsistent choices.
How can the Empathy Gap, be used to Improve Society?
Recognising the empathy gap, interventions can provide tangible examples, stories, or personal narratives to bridge the gap and foster empathy towards health-related issues. By creating emotional connections, individuals may be more motivated to engage in behaviours that promote health and well-being.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to attribute other people's behaviour primarily to their internal characteristics or traits (e.g., personality) while underestimating the influence of situational factors.
How can the Fundamental Attribution Error be used to Improve Society?
To address the fundamental attribution error, interventions can provide context, education, or information about external factors that influence behaviours, emphasising the role of situational factors rather than solely attributing outcomes to personal characteristics. This can help individuals understand and empathise with the complexities of health-related behaviours.
Hyperbolic Discounting
The tendency to prefer smaller immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards, even when the latter would be objectively more beneficial in the long run.
How can Hyperbolic Discounting, be used to Improve Society?
Recognising individuals' tendency to prioritise immediate rewards over delayed ones, interventions can provide immediate, tangible benefits or incentives that align with long-term health goals. This can help overcome the preference for short-term gratification and encourage healthier behaviours.
Identifiable Victim Effect
The tendency to feel more empathy and be more willing to help or contribute to individuals or groups when their specific identities or personal stories are known, compared to when they are abstract or represented by statistics.
How can the Identifiable Victim Effect be used to Improve Society?
Sharing stories or highlighting individual cases that illustrate the positive impact of health-promoting behaviors can evoke empathy and emotional connection. This can inspire individuals to take action and make choices that benefit their own health and well-being.
Illusion of Control
The tendency to overestimate one's influence or control over events or outcomes, even when the actual control is minimal or non-existent.
How can the Illusion of Control, be used to Improve Society?
Empowering individuals by providing them with relevant information, tools, and resources can help combat the illusion of control. By emphasising the aspects of health and well-being that are within their control, people are more likely to engage in behaviours that contribute to their overall well-being.
Illusory Truth Effect
The tendency to believe that information is more accurate or true merely because it has been encountered repeatedly, regardless of its actual validity or reliability.
How can the Illusory Truth Effect be used to Improve Society?
Repeatedly exposing individuals to accurate, evidence-based information related to health and well-being can help counteract the illusory truth effect. By reinforcing factual knowledge and debunking common myths, people are more likely to make informed decisions and adopt healthier behaviours.
Loss Aversion
The tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring equivalent gains, often resulting in a higher value placed on avoiding losses than on achieving gains of the same magnitude.
How can Loss Aversion, be used to Improve Society?
Framing health-related behaviours as opportunities to avoid losses or prevent negative outcomes can tap into the aversion to loss. By emphasising the potential consequences of inaction or unhealthy behaviours, individuals are motivated to make choices that protect their well-being.
Ostrich Effect
The tendency to avoid or ignore potentially negative or threatening information, often by pretending it doesn't exist or by actively avoiding it.
How can the Ostrich Effect be used to Improve Society?
Acknowledging individuals' inclination to avoid or ignore negative or threatening information, interventions can present health-related risks and consequences in a way that is attention-grabbing and difficult to ignore. This can prompt individuals to take proactive steps to address and mitigate those risks.
Over-justification Effect
The decrease in intrinsic motivation or interest in an activity when external rewards or incentives are introduced, overshadowing the internal motivations.
How can Over-justification Effect, be used to Improve Society?
Understanding that external rewards or incentives can sometimes undermine intrinsic motivation, interventions can promote a sense of autonomy, mastery, and purpose in engaging in healthy behaviours. By highlighting the inherent enjoyment, personal growth, or alignment with values associated with healthy habits, individuals are more likely to sustain their motivation and engagement.
Priming
The process by which exposure to one stimulus (prime) influences the response to a subsequent stimulus, often without conscious awareness.
How can Priming be used to Improve Society?
Utilising positive primes or cues in the design of products or services can influence individuals' subsequent behaviours and choices, promoting healthy and beneficial actions.
Regret Aversion
The tendency to avoid taking action or making choices to minimise the possibility of regret, even when the potential benefits outweigh the potential costs.
How can Regret Aversion, be used to Improve Society?
Understanding the avoidance of choices that may lead to regret, products or services can provide decision-support tools, feedback mechanisms, and risk-reducing features to mitigate potential regrets and promote positive outcomes.
Restraint Bias
The tendency to overestimate one's ability to resist temptations or impulses, leading to poor self-control and difficulty in maintaining long-term goals or behaviour change.
How can Restraint Bias be used to Improve Society?
Considering individuals' limited self-control, products or services can implement nudges, reminders, or automatic features that support self-regulation and facilitate healthy behaviours.
Rosy Retrospection
The tendency to recall past events or experiences more positively than they were experienced at the time, often attributed to memory biases and the influence of current mood or perspective.
How can Rosy Retrospection, be used to Improve Society?
Recognising the tendency to remember past events more positively, products or services can leverage positive reinforcement, rewards, or gamification to enhance users' memory and perception of their experience, increasing engagement and motivation.
Self-serving Bias
The tendency to attribute successes or positive outcomes to internal factors, such as personal traits or abilities, while attributing failures or negative outcomes to external factors, such as luck or circumstances.
How can Self-serving Bias be used to Improve Society?
Acknowledging individuals' tendency to attribute success internally and failures externally, products or services can emphasise personal achievements, progress tracking, and goal attainment to boost self-efficacy and motivation.
Serial Position Effect
The phenomenon where individuals are more likely to recall or remember information presented at the beginning (primacy effect) or end (recency effect) of a series, compared to information in the middle.
How can the Serial Position Effect, be used to Improve Society?
Recognising the impact of first and last impressions, products or services can ensure that critical health and well-being information is communicated early and repeated at crucial moments to enhance recall and compliance.
Status Quo Bias
The preference for maintaining or sticking with the current state of affairs or existing choices, even when objectively better alternatives are available.
How can Status Quo Bias be used to Improve Society?
Acknowledging the preference for maintaining the current state, products or services can leverage default options, default rules, or opt-out strategies to encourage healthier choices as the default, requiring active decision-making for alternative options.
Take-the-best Heuristic
A simple decision-making strategy where individuals rely on a single, prominent cue or attribute to make choices or judgments, ignoring other available information.
How can the Take-the-best Heuristic, be used to Improve Society?
Understanding the cognitive efficiency of relying on key cues, products or services can provide clear, concise, and salient information to facilitate quick and informed decision-making.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy
The tendency to continue investing time, resources, or effort into a project, decision, or course of action, solely because of the cumulative investment made, even when it is no longer rational or beneficial.
How can The Sunk Cost Fallacy be used to Improve Society?
Recognising the tendency to cling to investments despite diminishing returns, products or services can emphasize the benefits of cutting losses, provide decision-support tools, and highlight alternative options to facilitate more rational decision-making.
Zero Risk Bias
The preference for options or choices that eliminate or reduce a particular risk to zero, even if the reduction in risk is small or the alternative option offers greater benefits overall.
How can the Zero Risk Bias, be used to Improve Society?
Understanding aversion to risk, products or services can provide clear and accurate risk-benefit information, communicate the importance of manageable risks, and offer support or resources to reduce perceived risks associated with health and well-being choices.
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