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The Cambridge English Dictionary defines bias as ‘the action of supporting or opposing a particular person or thing in an unfair way, because of allowing personal opinions to influence your judgement.’ A bias is ‘the fact of preferring a particular subject or thing.’ There are multiple different kinds of bias ranging from apophenia to unconscious bias. When making a decision, we must be careful not to let bias cloud our judgement. If we did, the decision wouldn’t necessarily be classified as an informed decision. I believe we should care about bias because it influences our cognitive patterns. Psychologists who are in agreement with me, have long identified a list of cognitive biases. Peoples’ judgements will dictate perspective and therefore form respective worldviews.
Some cognitive biases serve as adaptive behaviour and help a person cope appropriately, minimising conflict and leading to further successes. Other cognitive biases lead to irrationality. Cognitive biases typically lead to speedier decision making and are referred to as a cognitive shortcut. While there are hundreds of cognitive biases, as listed here, this article shares seven of the most common cognitive and social biases:
When biases go unchecked, they can be detrimental to decision-making. For instance, if you were hiring multiple people for a job at your company, an affinity could lead you to favour one candidate over the others. This is known as an affinity bias. This occurs when there are similarities between you and another person. For example, sharing the same hometown or reminding us of a younger version of ourselves.
Other examples of evident bias are bribery, favouritism and prejudices (gender, race, language, etc.). I believe that you should care about biases in order to raise your children with minimal bias and to maintain relationships in your life with sensitivity. Staying vigilant about your own potential biases will help you continue to be the best possible version of yourself.