Bias

What is bias?

Bias, in judgment and decision research, is a systematic tendency for judgments or choices to depart from a specified comparison standard. The standard must be stated: a statistical probability, a logical rule, or a consistency requirement, for example. A preference is not a bias merely because someone else disagrees with it.

Tversky and Kahneman’s account of judgmental heuristics explains how useful shortcuts can also generate predictable errors. Behavioral examples include the sunk-cost fallacy, the framing effect, and errors involving the availability heuristic.

Using the term carefully

Before calling a choice biased, say which standard it violates. A decision you dislike may reflect different priorities or information. Naming a bias also does not establish its cause or show that a proposed remedy will improve decisions.