![]() This information is more accessible, and so we use it for estimating the absolute value, a phenomenon called selective accessibility.While we are doing that, we activate existing information in our brain that is consistent with the anchor. When we are presented with an external anchor, our first response is to consider the anchor as a possible answer. Unfortunately, your internal anchor (12 years) was too high, and it didn’t allow you to adjust sufficiently so as to approximate the correct answer, which is actually 1.88 years. After thinking some more, you come up with your final answer: 6 years. In other words, people always end up with an answer that is close to the anchor anyway.Įxample: Anchoring and adjustmentSuppose you need to answer the question ‘How long does it take Mars to orbit the Sun?’ but don’t know the correct answer and you’re not allowed to search for it online! You remember that Mars is between Earth and Jupiter, and that it takes 12 years for Jupiter to orbit the Sun.īased on this, you estimate that the correct answer is somewhere close to 12 years. Because the adjustment is usually insufficient, it results in a biased estimation.This initial estimation becomes an internal anchor and influences subsequent adjustments.If people don’t know the correct answer, they try to make an educated guess and adjust from there until they reach a conclusion that seems plausible.Confirmatory hypothesis testing can explain how external anchors influence our judgement.Īnchoring and adjustment is the mechanism that explains how people try to answer a general knowledge question when they don’t know the answer.Anchoring and adjustment applies best to situations where people are influenced by an internal anchor.Why does anchoring bias happen?Īlthough there is no consensus as to why anchoring bias happens, two mechanisms can help explain this phenomenon: ![]() When we don’t have enough information to know how to value something, we are more likely to be influenced by anchors. NoteIt is important to keep in mind that the more knowledgeable we are about a certain topic, the less likely we are to fall for anchoring bias. For example, if your parents followed an active lifestyle and exercised a lot, this experience might set a standard level of exercise for you in adulthood.
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