Explicit bias is a demonstration of conscious preference or aversion towards a person or group. With explicit bias, we are aware of the attitudes and beliefs we have towards others. These beliefs can be either positive or negative and can cause us to treat others unfairly.
Expressions of explicit bias can seem innocuous, like the example above, but they can also include hate speech, physical harassment, or discriminatory policies that target and exclude individuals or groups.
Primacy bias is the tendency to more easily recall information that we encounter first. In other words, if we read a long list of items, we are more likely to remember the first few items than the items in the middle.
We also tend to assume that what is at the beginning of a list is of greater importance or significance. Due to this, primacy bias (or primacy effect) has far-reaching consequences in different contexts, such as job interviews, education, and advertising.
Affinity bias is the tendency to favor people who share similar interests, backgrounds, and experiences with us. Because of affinity bias, we tend to feel more comfortable around people who are like us. We also tend to unconsciously reject those who act or look different to us.
Affinity bias is also known as similarity bias. It can lead to the exclusion of individuals or groups.
A double-barreled question forces respondents to provide a single answer to two or more separate issues. Presenting multiple topics at the same time, even inadvertently, can be a problem in survey research as it makes it harder for respondents to give a meaningful answer.
As a result, the question does not capture the constructs you are trying to measure, potentially leading to biased research results and confusion. Double-barreled questions are also called compound or double direct questions.
Actor-observer bias is the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes, while attributing our own behavior to external causes. In other words, actors explain their own behavior differently than how an observer would explain the same behavior.
Because actor-observer bias can influence how we perceive and interact with other people, it can lead us to inaccurate assumptions and misunderstandings.
An ecological fallacy is a logical error that occurs when the characteristics of a group are attributed to an individual. In other words, ecological fallacies assume what is true for a population is true for the individual members of that population.
Ecological fallacy can be problematic for any research study that uses group data to make inferences about individuals. It has implications in fields such as criminology, epidemiology, and economics.
A ceiling effect occurs when too large a percentage of participants achieve the highest score on a test. In other words, when the scores of the test participants are all clustered near the best possible score, or the “ceiling”, the measurement loses value. This phenomenon is problematic because it defeats the purpose of the test, which is to accurately measure something.
A ceiling effect can be observed in surveys, standardized tests, or other measurements used in quantitative research.
The affect heuristic occurs when our current emotional state or mood influences our decisions. Instead of evaluating the situation objectively, we rely on our “gut feelings” and respond according to how we feel. As a result, the affect heuristic can lead to suboptimal decision-making.
The representativeness heuristic occurs when we estimate the probability of an event based on how similar it is to a known situation. In other words, we compare it to a situation, prototype, or stereotype we already have in mind.
Although representativeness provides a quick and efficient way to make decisions, it can cause us to overlook important information and draw incorrect conclusions.
Anchoring bias describes people’s tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive on a topic. Regardless of the accuracy of that information, people use it as a reference point, or anchor, to make subsequent judgments. Because of this, anchoring bias can lead to poor decisions in various contexts, such as salary negotiations, medical diagnoses, and purchases.