What is the Anthropomorphism bias?
The Anthropomorphism bias is a cognitive bias whereby we attribute human emotions, characteristics and intentions to non-human things. This means that when people are faced with new information or an event they feel the need to give it « personality » to make sense of the world around them.
Why this bias is dangerous?
One of the problems with anthropomorphising animals or other objects is that you underestimate their ability for survival in their natural environment. For example, if you have a pet hamster and you believe she has unique personality traits then your house becomes her habitat which might not be ideal for her. As well as this, while humans can communicate verbally it may be hard to communicate with other animals so being too anthropomorphic can create certain difficulties.
Why do people use this bias?
Anthropomorphism is a « quick and dirty » way to apply what we know about humans to other objects or creatures, making it an effective mental shortcut that allows us to better understand the world around us. On the negative side though, using anthropomorphic labels can reduce our ability for critical thinking as we stop questioning events and situations. In addition to this, attributing human characteristics to things can help ease feelings of guilt or responsibility because if something bad does happen then you have a scapegoat which is ‘not your fault’.
How do people use this bias?
The Anthropomorphism bias comes in many different forms; these are some examples:
– The person who believes their car has feelings and is just trying to be nice to them.
– The person who says “I’m sorry the weather is so cold today, must be because it doesn’t like us humans very much!”
– A child who believes that the family cat ‘wants’ food despite not asking for it. – People think their dogs are smiling at them when they are simply panting.
How can we create this bias?
The Anthropomorphism bias occurs often in conjunction with other cognitive biases or heuristics, making it easy to see why people naturally fall into this trap. Some of these include: the Availability Heuristic where past events are recalled easily due to availability which links people back to their childhood experiences with anthropomorphism, the Halo Effect which links all positive or negative traits together so that if you love dogs then you will automatically like cats too. Finally, another cognitive bias that facilitates the Anthropomorphism bias is Egocentric Bias where we see everything through our own eyes and only take our own viewpoint into consideration.
How to avoid this bias?
To avoid falling into the trap of anthropomorphising things there are several techniques you can use: Firstly, before jumping to conclusions about an object or animal’s emotions it’s best practice to sit down and really think about whether there are any human characteristics that could apply to them. If they do then try substituting these with non-anthropomorphic words that are more appropriate. Finally, try thinking of more than one possible explanation or outcome of a situation which will help to create some balance around your bias.
Anthropomorphism examples:
– Pigeon holes: Organizing things into specific categories like « female » and « male », « employee » and « boss ». This can lead to prejudice if you take this too far for example men always make better employees because they aren’t as likely to get pregnant.
– With animals: Using human names such as Pippin for a dog, thinking they want the same things as humans like food and love. People often think their dogs can read their mind and sense when they are sad or happy.
– With cars: Believing that your car listens to you and will react accordingly such as braking if you shout » brake! » This might cause accidents if people get distracted by the noise of the ‘radio’ rather than what is happening on the road.
– With computers: Understanding social media updates or texts based on emotions like sarcasm or sadness, not considering it’s a machine and some things may be lost in translation.
Which profession use this bias?
This article has mentioned several professions which make use of anthropomorphism including children, parents and pet owners but there are many more; some examples include marketing companies who often design logos with human characteristics such as big eyes and a cute smile.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, anthropomorphism or giving human characteristics to objects or animals can lead people into making incorrect assumptions about how they behave which could have dire consequences for your personal life as well as having an impact on wider society so it’s important to try and avoid this cognitive bias wherever possible. If you really need to anthropomorphise something then make sure you’ve considered all other possibilities before coming to your final decision!
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