Naive cynicism is a cognitive bias that occurs when people expect more egocentric bias in others than actually is the case. The term was proposed by Justin Kruger and Thomas Gilovich. In one series of experiments, groups including married couples, video game players, darts players and debaters were asked how often they were responsible for […]
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Trait ascription bias
Trait ascription bias is the tendency for people to view themselves as relatively variable in terms of personality, behavior and mood while viewing others as much more predictable in their personal traits across different situations. More specifically, it is a tendency to describe one’s own behavior in terms of situational factors while preferring to describe another’s […]
Stereotype
A stereotype is a thought that may be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things. These thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect reality. However, this is only a fundamental psychological definition of a stereotype. Within psychology and spanning across other disciplines, there are different conceptualizations and theories of stereotyping that […]
Labeling theory
Labeling theory is the theory of how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. Labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead focuses on the tendency […]
Neglect of probability
The neglect of probability, a type of cognitive bias, is the tendency to completely disregard probability when making a decision under uncertainty and is one simple way in which people regularly violate the normative rules for decision making. Small risks are typically either neglected entirely or hugely overrated, the continuum between the extremes is ignored. […]
Attribute substitution
Attribute substitution is a psychological process thought to underlie a number of cognitive biases and perceptual illusions. It occurs when an individual has to make a judgment (of a target attribute) that is computationally complex, and instead substitutes a more easily calculated heuristic attribute. This substitution is thought of as taking place in the automatic intuitive […]
Inattentional blindness
Inattentional blindness, also known as perceptual blindness, is categorized as a psychological lack of attention and is not associated with any vision defects or deficits. Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice an unexpected stimulus that is in one’s field of vision when other attention-demanding tasks are being performed. It is categorized as an attentional […]
Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY)
NIMBY (an acronym for the phrase “Not In My Back Yard“), or Nimby, is a pejorative characterization of opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them, often with the connotation that such residents believe that the developments are needed in society but should be further away. Opposing […]
Other people’s money
A phrase of Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations (1776) Book V, ch 1, §107, referring to how corporate directors will always be inefficient, because they preside over other people’s money. Attributed to Milton Friedman as a way of expressing the opinion that the government does not carefully spend taxpayers’ money.
Tragedy of the commons
The tragedy of the commons is an economics theory by Garrett Hardin, according to which individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each one’s self-interest, behave contrary to the whole group’s long-term best interests by depleting some common resource. The concept is often cited in connection with sustainable development, meshing economic growth and environmental protection, […]