Cognitive Biases in the Workspace Directions

Introduction

With daily interactions in the workplace, constant decisions are made, which rely on consciousness and unconsciousness in thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs. These are the attributes that might result in cognitive bias, defined as the systematic errors in humans' decision-making due to varied reasoning or thinking. In this lesson, we will learn some specific cognitive biases, the reasons for addressing them, and exercises to identify these biases (Lawrence, 2021). Also, we will discuss the expectations from the co-workers, and various biases experience in different industries.

There are many types of biases, but we will discuss some of the common ones in the workplace. Some of the predominant include positivity, negativity, and confirmation bias. However, the most important aspect is to understand how to recognize these biases and minimize the negative consequences. Commonly, people are more interested in negativity than positive or neutral experiences; this is why the negative bias is top-ranked. Various studies have revealed that humans have a gene variant, predisposing people to perceive emotions, which are negative more seriously than others. These experiences are commonly defined as negativity bias, which is the reason for more attention on negative experiences (Lawrence, 2021). Importantly, having negativity helps our brains recognize danger and avoid hostile environments; the amygdala is responsible for apparent fear by causing a freezing syndrome. The latter syndrome is unconscious, leading to automatic reaction, especially where an individual cannot control it, helping them improve personal responses.

The negativity bias in the workplace works can be demonstrated by thinking about the positive compliments that a co-worker might receive. After a positive remark, people feel grateful and continue with normal daily chores without a second thought. In contrast, receiving a single negative compliment from a co-worker will affect an individual more adversely, which might consume their thoughts even for months. Therefore, in the workplace, however, the small negative remark might seem to get remembered more over the positive experiences. This negativity bias has been a common experience for over a million years, built-in our brains, and people believe it is passed across generations. It is important to ensure that people overcome or lessen the effects of negativity bias (Gazzo Castañeda et al., 2016). This can be achieved through embracing self-awareness, which is done by observing people’s experiences and emotions. More importantly, awareness is practiced through discussion with family, friends, or trusted co-workers on experiences to obtain an external view of the situation. Through this, people can get insights or a bigger picture of their situation and how they have influenced them in the workplace, helping them reframe the situation to a positive view.

Moreover, individuals can address negativity through appreciation and search for positivity within situations. This is through restructuring experiences in the workplace in a positive way. People are then encouraged to keep negativity under control, taking them as minor issues and outweighing positives. Additionally, we need to be more optimistic and understand how we can turn all negative experiences into positive ones, an experience that impacts a person’s well-being (Shahid, 2020).  People’s brains cannot operate on both negatives and positives; it has to let one interfere. It is always good to embrace the positivity bias; for instance, receiving a congratulatory text after completing a project helps build good emotions, lowering the levels of negativity. Keeping positive bias promotes positive thinking in the workplace; even with negative experiences, they can easily get reverted by positive emotions.

The last form of bias that we will discuss is confirmation bias, which is the capacity to get a second viewpoint on the issues under discussion. For instance, getting another viewpoint from a co-worker, listening with an open mind, and increasing a person’s thoughts on this topic. However, when trying to overcome confirmation bias, there is a chance of emotional escalations; therefore, it is essential to ensure that the shared ideas educate only the positive aspects on both sides of the topic (Knobloch-Westerwick et al., 2020). Also, it is important to keep out emotions when arguing, listening to people stands, and getting open on the information.  Keeping this will make most people fall for this form of bias and make their minds committed to it.

Various exercises have been carried out to show what different biases present in the workplace. Some of the common exercises are the in-group bias and the optimism bias. The in-group bias highlights the feeling of comfort and favoritism for some people of the same genre. For instance, leaders favor other leaders or members of a specific group. The primary role of this exercise is to examine the tendency of some leaders to favor certain employees within the organization. Additionally, other companies rely on optimism bias, especially in hiring (Adejumo, 2018). This is the bias defining the difference between expectations and outcomes. These entail exercises such as interviews based on organizations’ history, among other hiring processes. The role of this bias is to examine whether the hired candidates are the right for the available position.

Although difficult to examine bias among co-workers, various push-backs might be inherited from others. This difficulty arises as the co-workers will only display their strengths and never their weaknesses. Yes, people will not easily admit to the existence of biases that drive their decision, which might adversely affect the company. Therefore, it is essential to educate the co-workers on how to accommodate these push-backs, the existing biases, and how to overcome them. This gives people awareness of certain situations, which can effectively address the issues at hand.

I have been interested in opening and running my own business, and I am very aware of the existing biases. Some biases include the suck cost fallacy, especially after losing things that cannot be recovered. This bias exists when there are errors in rational decisions, resulting in a loss of money. While seeking to address this bias, it is essential to accept that money has been lost and making decisions on how to make good use of time and money to avoid losses in the future (Haita-Falah, 2017). Another common bias is the Dunning-Kruger effect, faced by entrepreneurs, who feel like experts in a certain field only to realize that they know very little. Common victims are people starting a business, which they feel much equipped, only to realize that they know very little.  This bias is addressed by acquiring the right education or hiring experts to run the business.

Conclusion

Generally, the human brain is under constant function processing various situations, which results in various cognitive biases. However, there is a need to address the negative effects, removing them from minds, which is possible by first understanding them and appreciating that they exist among ourselves. Following this appreciation, persons can embrace and exercise cognitive capacity, thinking positively, and achieve success in the workplace.

 

References

Adejumo, A. O. (2018). Role of optimism bias, knowledge, and demographic profile on perceived infectability to Lassa virus infection. African Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, 47(4), 451-461.

Gazzo Castañeda, L. E., Richter, B., & Knauff, M. (2016). Negativity bias in defeasible reasoning. Thinking & Reasoning, 22(2), 209-220.

Haita-Falah, C. (2017). Sunk-cost fallacy and cognitive ability in individual decision-making. Journal of Economic Psychology, 58, 44-59.

Knobloch-Westerwick, S., Mothes, C., & Polavin, N. (2020). Confirmation bias, ingroup bias, and negativity bias in selective exposure to political information. Communication Research, 47(1), 104-124.

Lawrence, K. (2021). Understanding unconscious bias in the workplace. Bulletin (Law Society of South Australia), 43(2), 14-15.

Shahid, S. (2020). Positivity at the workplace: examining the relationships among leadership, employee psychological capital, organisational virtuousness, employee thriving and job performance (Doctoral dissertation, RMIT University).