Dr. Kristin Finkbeiner, Senior Lecturer & Deputy Programme Director in the Faculty of Psychology at Griffith College Dublin, discusses how cognitive bias shapes our understanding of the world.
If you, like much of the world this summer, watched the Olympic games in Paris, you might have noticed a few instances where preferences or prejudices became a major focus to certain commentators. To name but a few:
- The confusion in the opening ceremony between a choreographed depiction of either a Christian “last supper” scene or pagan “gods of Olympus” scene
- The attention Algerian boxer Imane Khelif received for not adhering to strict gender conventions
- A radio commentator’s remarks on Italian tennis player Sara Errani being “the boss”, and doing “the washing up, the cooking, the mopping up”
- Ban on hijabs for French athletes
What do these circumstances have in common, besides the controversy that they seemed to stir?
Cognitive Bias
Cognitive Bias is a term that many business professionals are integrating into their lexicon, thanks to modern corporate learning and development opportunities aimed to promote diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging across an organisation. It refers to the tendency to act irrationally due to our limited ability to process information objectively, which is closely linked to errors in judgment and decision-making. That is, we might misinterpret a religion that we are not familiar with, or an Olympian that doesn’t fit into our strict definition of what a representative of their gender might be like. This is important because strong opinions form prejudices and stereotypes which cloud our judgement, and have been linked to acts of discrimination and unjust treatment of people in sports, workplaces and all communities where social groups form.
The human brain is not perfect – we are only able to process and interpret a select amount of information that comes through our senses. As a result, we are prone to taking mental shortcuts (called heuristics) and pay attention to things that seem to “fit in” to our personal worldview, and miss information that sits outside of that scope. Simply put, we can be quite wrong about what we assume because it’s impossible for us to see the full picture.
However, like most concepts, cognitive biases are not inherently bad. The reality is that we all have beliefs, preferences, opinions and biases that are informed by our unique life experiences. Being aware of our cognitive biases simply affords us the opportunity to take an accurate snapshot of our contexts, including the social norms and systems of privilege that might be influencing our decision making in the background of our lives – and hopefully, encourage us to be more inclusive and open-minded inside the diverse world we occupy.
Consider reflecting on a few of the common cognitive biases below to understand how they might be influencing your actions without your awareness:
● Confirmation Bias: The tendency to seek out information that supports our beliefs.
- Do you deliberately consume news from multiple media outlets, or do you allow your app’s algorithms to provide the news for you?
● Halo Effect: The tendency to base your opinion of someone/something on a single dominant
trait or first impression.
- Do you find yourself more likely to buy a granola bar labelled organic than not?
● Bandwagon Effect: The tendency to do something because others are doing it, so it seems “normal”.
- How many times have you found yourself being influenced to buy or believe something on social media?
To conclude, the recent controversies at the Paris Olympics highlights the role of cognitive biases in shaping our perceptions. Recognising these biases can help us make more informed and inclusive decisions in sports and beyond.
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