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Projection Bias

Individuals overestimate the prevalence of their own thoughts, beliefs, preferences, and knowledge in others.

Projection Bias

Sophie had always considered herself a foodie, particularly passionate about spicy cuisine. Over the years, she had cultivated an adventurous palate, and nothing excited her more than a dish with a generous kick of heat. When she invited a few close friends over for dinner one Saturday night, she decided to make a bold statement with a fiery Indian curry, confident it would impress her guests.

She carefully selected the spiciest ingredients, including a potent mix of chilies and exotic spices, all while imagining her friends’ delighted reactions. Sophie, who loved the heat, assumed everyone else would too—after all, spicy food was universally adored, right?

When her friends arrived, they gathered around the dinner table, and Sophie proudly served the curry. As they began to eat, her friends’ faces subtly changed. First, a few polite coughs, then awkward glances. One friend, Anna, gingerly tasted a bite and quickly reached for water, her face turning bright red. Another friend, Lucas, quietly set his spoon down, looking at Sophie with an expression of disbelief.

Sophie’s heart sank as she realized what had happened—she had projected her own love for spice onto her guests, assuming they would share the same enthusiasm. As the night wore on, she saw that many of her friends were unable to finish their portions, and some even pushed their bowls away.

This is Projection Bias, where Sophie overestimated the similarity between her own tastes and preferences and those of her friends. Because she loved spicy food, she assumed that everyone else did as well. This led to misjudgment, as she didn’t take into account her friends’ varying tastes. Projection Bias often causes misunderstandings by assuming others share our personal perspectives without considering their differences.

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Scarcity Bias

Tendency to value limited or scarce resources more highly than those that are abundantly available.

Small Win Bias – Gratification Bias

Tendency to prioritizes or value short-term rewards over long-term benefits.

The Cheating Bias

Dishonest behavior by getting influenced to do so when observing others, leading to unethical practices.

Sisyphus Effect

Tendency to give up when there is no gratification or visible meaning / output to efforts.

The IKEA Effect

People tend to value an object more if they contribute to its creation.

Dunning Kruger Effect

Overestimating one’s knowledge due to a lack of understanding about the complexity of a subject.

Decoy Option Effect

Influences preferences by introducing a less attractive intermediate option, subtly steering choices towards more profitable alternatives.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.

Spotlight Effect

The tendency to believe that we are being noticed more than we really are.

Anchoring Bias

People rely heavily on the first piece of information (the “anchor”), even if it’s irrelevant.

Current Mood Bias

It is a distortion in cognition and decision making due to the present emotional state.

Prestige Bias

The tendency to favor the opinions of individuals or groups with higher social status or authority even when not in the same field.

Social Desirability Bias

Tendency to respond to or behave in a way that is socially acceptable or desirable, rather than expressing their true opinions or behaviors.

Recency Bias

The tendency to better recall recent information and events while ignoring older information.

Restraint Bias

The tendency to overestimate the level of control we have over our impulsive behaviors.

Survivorship Bias

The tendency to focus on the individuals or things that have “survived” or succeeded, while overlooking data from those that have not.

Response Bias

Tendency to provide inaccurate or false answers during surveys or interviews.

First impression Bias

The tendency to form lasting opinions based on initial experiences.

Omission Bias

Tendency to avoid taking action due to fear or uncertainty, even when not taking action could be more harmful.

Bundling Bias

The tendency of buying things that are sold together, even if we don’t need everything in the bundle. Think of this as the “package deal effect.”

Distinction Bias

In decision making, we tend to overvalue the minor differences between two almost similar options when we examine them together.

Salience Bias

Our tendency to focus on items or information that are more noteworthy while ignoring those that do not grab our attention.

Diversification Bias

Spreading our resources thinly across numerous options instead of concentrating on a few.

Pessimism Bias

A tendency to believe things will go wrong even when there is no evidence to support it.

Optimism Bias

Tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes and underestimate the negative ones.

Bandwagon Effect

It refers to our habit of adopting certain behaviors or beliefs because many other people do the same.

Framing Bias

Equivalent information can be more or less attractive depending on how it is presented, influencing our decisions.

Recall Bias

Individuals do not accurately remember past events or experiences or leave out details while reporting about them.

Group Think Bias

A group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives, simply doing or agreeing because everyone else is.