Skip to main content

Category

Cognitive Biases

Impact level

3 / 5

Category Cognitive Biases

Impact 3 / 5

COGNITIVE BIASES

Anchoring
Bias

The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the "anchor") when making decisions.

Also known as: Anchoring Effect, Focalism

Share this

X / TwitterLinkedInFacebook

Cognitive processing

System 1 (fast, intuitive). Biases often lean on quick judgments (System 1) unless you slow down and analyze (System 2).

Evidence & time

Evidence strength: experimental. Typical read: about 4 min.

Catch it next time

Practical steps for Anchoring Bias

1
Delay initial judgments
medium effectivenesseasy difficulty
2
Consider multiple reference points
high effectivenessmoderate difficulty

Tape this to your desk.

02

Common triggers

Negotiations

Sales and pricing

03

Typical contexts

Salary negotiations

Real estate purchases

04

Mitigation strategies

Delay initial judgments

Effectiveness: medium

Difficulty: easy

Consider multiple reference points

Effectiveness: high

Difficulty: moderate

05

Potential decision harms

Overpaying for goods or services

moderate Severity

Underevaluating worth

moderate Severity