Psychological Biases And How To Wield Them

The Time-Saving Bias is a phenomenon where people tend to overestimate the time saved by a given action, even when the time saved is small.

We often imagine short-cuts saving more time than they actually do. Leaving things to the last minute, because you have a short cut is foolish as even with it you may still miss the deadline. Always give yourself more time than needed, even when using short-cuts.

The zero-sum bias is a belief or assumption that a win for one person or entity must correspond to a loss for another. This bias leads to the belief that in any exchange or transaction, the total benefit or advantage must be equal to zero, with the benefit of one side coming at the expense of the other.

Just because one side wins doesn’t mean the other has to lose. Shopping is a good example you get what you want and the store get’s what they want (money).

When deal making add to the deal so both sides are happy. If both sides want X add in Y and Z and suddenly the other side having x doesn’t seem so bad. Always look for the win/win, it’s more difficult, but everyone leaves happier as a result.

The Ambiguity Effect is a cognitive bias that refers to people's tendency to prefer known and certain options over uncertain or ambiguous options, even when the uncertain options have the potential to be more favourable.

When tying to persuade others, a lie about a definite outcome is far more persuasive than the truth about an uncertain one. You’ll see politicians use this trick all the time, those who say ‘We don’t know’ are seen as weak whereas liars who say ‘This will happen’ are seen as powerful leaders. Keep this in mind next time you see people offering certainty, they’re using the Ambiguity Effect against you.

Dread Aversion refers to a person's tendency to avoid making decisions or taking actions when the outcome of those decisions or actions is uncertain and could lead to unpleasant outcomes (dread).

This bias kept our ancestors safe. The rustling of the bush could be wind, but it could also be a predator ready to pounce and kill them. The risk is hardly worth it, so they avoided the bush and survived. Nowadays that potential predator takes the form of anything that makes us anxious.

Anxiety keeps us safe, but it also limits our freedom. Do you really want to be a slave to fear? If something won’t harm/kill you work up the strength to face your fears and take back your freedom.

The Endowment Effect is where people place a higher value on things simply because they own them. People tend to overvalue the things they possess, compared to if they were to buy the same things in the market.

The more something is a part of our lives, the more value we give it. What’s more valuable a new teddybear or the worn out teddybear you’ve had since childhood? To an outsider it’s easily the new one, but to you the fact that the old one has been with your whole life makes it far more valuable. It’s more than just a teddybear, it’s a part of us.

What we own is a reflection of us, hence why we place more value on them. When interacting with others keep this in mind their clothes aren’t the £10 t-shirt hanging on the sales rack at the local charity store, it’s a hidden gem that they acquired. Treating it as such will lead to you quickly building strong bond with them.

Loss Aversion refers to where individuals have a stronger preference for avoiding losses than acquiring gains of equivalent value. This means that people tend to feel the pain of losing more than the pleasure of gaining, and as a result, they often act in ways to minimise potential losses.
This is why people get angry with loans, sure it was only '50p' to you, but it was my 50p! Give it back!

To reduce the effect of this bias, imagine that everything you own is on loan (from the universe, god or whatever you want, it doesn't matter who the real ‘owner' is). When you eventually do 'lose' it just tell yourself that you're giving it back to (Inset owner here). This works for objects as well as relationships and people themselves. You've been gifted with all these things, but only for a limited time, one day everything you have will be returned, including your life. Enjoy it whilst you can.

Status Quo Bias is the tendency to prefer things to remain as they are and to resist change. People often exhibit status quo bias in decision-making because change can be perceived as threatening, even if it is ultimately for the better.

The Status Que Bias is why we often do nothing in the face of tough choices. It’s the freeze response. We live in the illusion that doing nothing isn't a choice, but it is. You don't get to make no choices. You can do something and open up the possibility to infinite futures or you can do nothing, grow older and have nothing to show for it. When you're old and grey, with only memories left, what choice would you want yourself to make now?

You can wield this to your advantage by setting out the option you want others to take as something they already agree with/do. This is called ‘Thinking past the sale’. You get people to imagine riding about in their new car, the places they’ll visit, what they’ll listen to whilst driving, the looks they’ll get when they pass my their friends etc. all this pants a picture inside their mind that this is the status quo. The choice then becomes - Continue living this life with your new car or go back to living your pathetic old life without it.

The hot-cold empathy gap is when people underestimate how their current emotions or physical state will affect their decisions later on. For instance, someone might not realise how hungry they'll get when they're already full, or how angry they'll become in a situation that currently seems calm

We act differently based on how we feel. This can be due to our emotions being part of our animal brain, they kick in before we process what's going on and because we're not conscious of what's going on our actions can surprise us. Anger results in a totally different outcome than happiness.

Look at toddlers for a simple example, the same situation has different outcomes based on how they feel. With toddlers a nap is usually enough, for adults, advising an angry one to take a nap probably wont work, but getting them to laugh/smile is a quick way to defuse their anger.

* I’ve also found that alcohol enhances whatever someone is currently feeling. Happy people become happier and agitated people become angrier. If you notice them drinking keep watch and avoid them, before they erupt.

The hard-easy effect refers to the phenomenon in which people tend to overestimate their abilities when it comes to tasks that are perceived as easy, but underestimate their abilities when it comes to tasks that are perceived as hard.

With easy tasks always give yourself more time than you assume you need. To combat hard tasks, do more hard tasks. Do what seems impossible and push at it until you succeed. You’ve probably already achieved something you once thought impossible, use that as proof you can do more. You learned to walk, speak, read, write, do maths etc. Write and publish a book, we all have knowledge worth sharing and Amazon will allow you to publish once it’s finished.

If you want others to do an easy task allow them more time than stated and if you want them to do something hard break the task down into smaller, easier steps.

The "hungry judge effect" is a psychological phenomenon where decision-makers, such as judges or jurors, make harsher judgments or decisions when they are hungry or experiencing low glucose levels. Research suggests that hunger can influence cognitive processes, leading to less lenient evaluations and decisions.

The Snickers ads are right ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry”. Welding this bias is pretty simple - before making big decisions, eat.