What is Anchoring Bias ? Have we ever been attached to an event that we first encountered? Because many times , the event or thing we see for the first time may not be true or correct, but many people believe and attach themselves to those things already.
The moment we meet a person, animal, thing or place for the first time, that moment is the time when our subconscious mind does a lot of calculations to decide what is in front of us. The result is what we call “first impression”. However, not everyone can make the first impression because some people create “bad first impression” instead.
“When you first meet, you should behave yourself.”
When we have the chance to sit back and think carefully, whether it is about work, study, love or society, everyone always tells us to make a good first impression. Even though we are actually an easy-going person or whatever, but the first time we meet, no matter who it is, we should make a good impression first. We should put aside our true nature first because some of our habits may cause us problems later on.
Why is first impression important?
People want to create a good impression when they first meet because the first judgment of something in front of them will be the principle for their subsequent judgments. Therefore, it is very important that we try to make the principle that they will use to base their beliefs on us the main principle in a positive way. If we start by building beliefs in other people in a negative way, it will take us a long time to prove ourselves before they will see us in a good light.
“Belief has both positive and negative effects.”
This is a scary word. It is created by our beliefs. It is the belief that we place on what is wrong or right, who is wrong or right. For example, once a first impression is made, if it is good enough that nothing can erase it, then “addiction” is created. And it is even worse when the impression is made a second, third, or maybe ten times. Addiction, which is deep down in the subconscious, creates a wall around the reality of what is believed. As a result, we no longer perceive the wrong, the flaws, or the bad things that follow from those beliefs because we have firmly believed that they are really good for us or in our perspective.
What is Anchoring Bias?
Anchor in our Thai language means “anchor”. The mental distortion such as the symptom of “dropping the anchor” is the mental anchoring of things around us. We base our thinking on the first decision of what is the thing in front of us? Then we hold on to the first decision as the main one and adjust our thinking according to what we encounter. Therefore, there is a distortion which makes us see things around us far from reality because the main point we base our thinking on is only a fraction of the truth, which may not be the whole of what we see.
“Even if you know, it’s still hard to avoid.”
From the extensive research on anchoring bias, we know that even though we know that initial decisions are likely to be wrong and that first impressions are not that reliable, it can still be difficult to escape the “anchor” effect. Every participant in the study admitted that they could not escape the cognitive bias, even after understanding the “anchor” effect.
Factors that influence the “anchor” symptom
In our daily lives, we are not the ones who avoid anchoring, but we are the ones who try to make those around us who have this symptom think about us in a positive way. Whether the truth about us is positive or not, we still want them to bury the positive side of us first. The factors that influence anchoring are as follows:
- Mood grounding: Many studies have shown a relationship between mood grounding and cognitive anchoring, with depressed people being more likely to have unrealistic thought anchoring than happy people.
- Experience: Experienced people tend to have a criterion of anchoring that is closer to the truth than others because their past experiences help them to make judgments within their own minds. But even judges who have a lot of experience in deciding cases cannot escape this criterion.
- Personality: Research has shown that people with empathetic and cautious personalities are more likely to be self-centered than people who are outgoing and always seeking out new experiences.
“The anchoring effect is easy to demonstrate, but it is also difficult to explain.”
Many researchers have studied the “anchor effect,” which shows the profound distortions in people’s thinking. For example, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted an experiment where they had a group of students calculate the following multiplication tables in their heads in just 5 seconds: 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8. They then had another group of students calculate the following multiplication tables in their heads in just 5 seconds: 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1. The average answer given by the first group was 512, and the average answer given by the second group was 2,250. The actual answer was 40,320. The effect is that both groups of students, knowing that they could not do the entire calculation in 5 seconds, guessed their answer by multiplying the first digit in a short period of time and then slightly longer. Anchoring is a mental process that is based solely on looking at the first digit.
“First impressions always affect future decisions.”
Another interesting study involved having participants write down the last two digits of their social security numbers and then judge how much they would be willing to pay for items of unknown value, such as wine, chocolate, or electronic gadgets. The results showed that the amount they were willing to pay was influenced by their social security numbers when bidding on the items.
“Raise the anchor”
Because we all know that first impressions are sometimes like traps that make us close our eyes and ears to reality. Because we can never know how close the first impression we get to the truth is, there is a theory called “changing attitudes”. It is changing the principles we have towards things we have encountered and accidentally dropped anchors. Remind yourself and always remember that seeing only the first time cannot determine what may happen next. Therefore, we can always change our attitudes or drop anchors about that thing in order to be as close to the truth as possible.
Anchoring or the secret weapon of trade
Many traders use the mental distortion caused by “anchor syndrome” as a tool to help them sell. Since people tend to anchor their thoughts based on their first impressions, setting a high price at the beginning tricks consumers into mentally anchoring the price of the product even though it is not true.
After that, the mind game continues, with promotions, discounts, and freebies like stores or department stores like to do. Prices are reduced to make consumers who have already fixed the price of the product feel that it is cheaper and worth buying, even though when compared to the actual cost, the seller still makes a lot of profit and it is not worth buying at all.
“If we use it wisely, it becomes a distortion that we can control ourselves.”
Apart from trading, Anchoring Bias is also useful in work such as interviewing, presenting or selling work, or even making a good impression on your boss and coworkers. Being loved is always better than being hated. If we can make a good first impression for others to anchor us, receiving good opportunities and many good wishes are not difficult to receive from people around us. But don’t forget to maintain that impression.
Conclusion
Anchoring Bias is a bias that arises from our automatic and difficult to avoid mental distortions, and we often feel hurt or disappointed by believing something based on our first impression. Remember that everything we see is not what it seems. We can change our minds and re-establish our beliefs. This cognitive distortion is present in all of us. We can exploit this bias, we just have to use it wisely and control it. Sometimes it can do more good than harm.
“It’s simple and clear that first impressions often turn out to be really big mistakes.”Vincent D’Onofrio
Recommended article : HALO EFFECT When physical appearance is used as a criterion to judge a person’s worth
Source:
https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring
https://thematter.co/social/10-cognitive-biasas-we-should-know/129762
https://thaipublica.org/2016/08/nattavudh-46/
