What is the Focusing effect?
The Focusing effect is a cognitive bias, which means that it refers to the way people think and act. It is part of the list of cognitive biases described by Daniel Kahneman in « Thinking fast and slow » (2011).
What does the focusing effect do?
This cognitive bias causes people to focus on one aspect when they make decisions. As a result, they tend not to take into account other factors that can influence how things turn out. That’s why this bias is dangerous; because without taking into consideration all the factors surrounding their decision-making process, their decision can be wrong or inefficient.
Why does this bias happen?
As mentioned earlier, the Focusing Effect occurs because people tend to focus on one aspect when they make a decision. As a result, not considering other factors that affect the outcome of their decisions.
Why do people use this bias?
People mainly use this cognitive bias because it is part of human nature to focus on one thing at a time and give more importance or relevance to it. In other words, focusing on an aspect which matters for them at that particular moment. It can also be used as a way to simplify difficult problems through rationalization and creating order in scenarios that we cannot comprehend easily.
Finally, individuals could acquire such behavior due to lack of experience and knowledge about the situation they are facing and thus, fail understanding how much influence each factor has on the final outcome or results of their actions/decisions.
How do people use this bias?
People tend to use the focusing effect because it gives them a sense of control over their lives. Also, many individuals find focusing on one thing at a time to be effective and efficient when trying to solve problems. As well as thinking that concentrating only on the present is more logical because it doesn’t allow us to worry about what will happen in the future or regret decisions made in the past. An example of someone using this bias would be someone who just broke up with their boyfriend/girlfriend and they think that finding another partner will fix all their problems. They forget about other important factors like how much effort they put into building said relationship or what they gained from it (e.g., experience, skills, knowledge) and how it will affect them in the long run.
Also, people use this bias because they think that focusing on one thing at a time is more efficient or logical. In other words, concentrating only on the present is easier to understand than worrying about what could happen in the future or regretting decisions made in the past.
How can we create this bias?
There are two ways for us to create this cognitive bias; by simplifying difficult problems through rationalization or making order of events that we cannot comprehend easily. It is also possible for us to acquire such behavior due to lack of experience and knowledge about certain situations. Lastly, focusing on one aspect can be seen as an effective way to solve some problems if done correctly.
How to avoid this bias?
To avoid this cognitive bias, people should try to consider more than one possible explanation for their behavior or actions. Additionally, it is important to understand not only what factors influence the final outcome, but also how much each of them affects the results. Lastly, by learning about other possibilities and having an open-minded perspective can help overcome our natural tendency to focus on just one aspect when making decisions.
An individual could also gather as much information as possible before taking any action/making a decision in order to make sure they are considering all aspects that surround said situation. Also, by understanding how each factor influences the result would allow someone to make better decisions because they would be able to better predict what will happen or gain certainty on what they are doing.
Finally, if someone seems to be using this bias too often, their friends could help them overcome it by pointing out how much each factor affects the outcome of said situation. Also, getting more experiences in different aspects of life can also help people get over this cognitive bias.
Focusing effect examples?
An example of focusing effect would be a teenager who just got his driver’s license and while driving home he is very excited so he focuses on all the great things he can do while being able to drive a car. As a result, that teenager does not concentrate on other important factors such as how careful he has to be with other drivers or even himself because there might be a lot of reckless teenagers who drive too fast on the same roads he does.
Another example would be someone who is really excited about buying a new product (e.g., smartphone, car, house) and they think that this product will solve all their problems; forgetting about how it might affect them financially for example.
Which profession use the Focusing effect?
This bias can be found in many professions such as doctors, scientists or even accountants. By focusing on one aspect of something too much without considering other factors, it is possible to make wrong decisions that could lead to unfair treatment towards certain individuals. Also, by not taking into consideration an event’s context there are high chances for someone to important details which could alter the final verdict. Overall, focusing too much on one thing at a time when making decisions could lead to important information being overlooked and in turn influence the final outcome.
Focusing effect conclusion.
In conclusion, this cognitive bias is dangerous because it could interfere with someone’s ability to make an accurate decision. In other words, by focusing on just one aspect of something we might overlook important details that would allow us to comprehend said situation better and even help us make better choices/decisions in future situations that are similar in nature. Also, people tend to use this bias when they lack experience or knowledge about a certain area because in order to overcome it we need to gather all possible information from various reliable sources so we can learn from what has been done before and we can avoid making mistakes that were made by other people.
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