What is the Self-relevance effect?
The self-relevance effect is a cognitive bias that causes information that has personal relevance to be weighted more heavily than equally relevant pieces of information that are less personal. This bias is called the self-relevance effect because it seems as if the brain treats any information with personal significance as more important and thus gives it greater weight.
Why this bias is dangerous?
The danger of this bias is twofold. First, people are likely to make suboptimal decisions when they are dealing with personally significant issues, since they will give them an undue amount of attention. Second, by focusing on themselves too much people can alienate others since their behavior becomes inappropriately self-focused outside of social. These two factors combine into what has been called « self-absorption », which is the tendency for people to overvalue information that has personal relevance while undervaluing more generalizable, less personal data.
Why do people use this bias?
People often use the self-relevance effect because they instinctively attempt to maximize the reward value of their decisions. The brain then weights information by how personally relevant it is in order to determine whether or not it will ultimately be beneficial to seek out additional knowledge. People are more likely to behave according to what feels right intuitively than what seems logical on paper, hence the bias’s presence in so many aspects of daily life.
How do people use this bias?
The effects of this cognitive distortion can be seen all over the world. For example, people often think they are less likely to be affected by advertising than others. As a result, they let down their guard and are more easily persuaded by persuasive messages that leave them with a false sense of security. This bias also plays into why fashion icons have such influence on fashion trends. People tend to believe that only other people will follow the fashion advice of iconic figures, so they do not worry about being overly influenced themselves.
How can we create this bias?
The self-relevance effect is created through personalization of decisions or situations or events, where individuals incorporate information related to themselves (like names and faces) into their judgments and make those judgments as if those biases didn’t exist at all. People use the self-relevance effect when they create assumptions about themselves based on small amounts of information, like people do when applying for jobs. For example, if a person grows up in an affluent neighborhood, then that person will subconsciously believe that all wealthy neighborhoods are safe even though this is not necessarily true.
How to avoid this bias?
People can prevent using this bias by recognizing its presence and actively attempting to correct it through conscious reasoning. These corrections help nullify the self-relevance effect so that individuals can make more rational choices or decisions. The key to avoiding being influenced by the self-relevance effect is to recognize its existence and keep your mind open because you could be making incorrect conclusions due to the way you perceive and process information.
Self-relevance effect examples?
Self-relevance effect in interview: People in interviews tend to feel more positively about themselves when they believe that an interviewer agrees with them, even on facts unrelated to the interviewee. If an interviewer is giving positive body language such as leaning forward and nodding while asking questions, then the interviewee will likely answer those questions by agreeing with the interviewer. On the other hand, if a person feels like their opinion might be unpopular or not what an interviewer wants to hear, there is a risk of damaging rapport by providing answers contrary to signals they may be receiving from the interviewer’s body language. That can lead to misinterpretation and bad feelings towards each other.
Self-relevance effect in public speaking: People are more likely to believe that others will be influenced by their behavior during a speech when they have been given feedback before the speech praising them for being dynamic. If they have not received these positive signals, they are unlikely to worry about being dynamic and therefore, less likely to use this bias in making decisions or assessing the implications of certain behaviors.
Which profession use the Self-relevance effect?
Negotiators, lawyers, media professionals, advertising executives, politicians/public speakers etc. people who are constantly required to present themselves in front of audiences or negotiate deals personalize information that has self relevance because it helps them predict how they might be perceived by their audience. This can lead them to make false assumptions about how their audience will respond. For instance, a politician who believes he is charismatic may believe that his message is more important than the content of the policy being discussed because they have been told by interviewers or voters that they are « charismatic ».
Self-relevance effect conclusion:
The self-relevance effect is a cognitive bias where people perceive themselves as less susceptible to persuasion than others. This bias might influence people’s judgements when it comes to making decisions and evaluating information that has personal relevance. It also influences why fashion icons have such an impact on what gets bought and worn, as most people assume that only other people would follow advice rather than feeling they would be persuaded themselves.
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