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Category

Cognitive Biases

Impact level

2 / 5

Category Cognitive Biases

Impact 2 / 5

COGNITIVE BIASES

Optimism
Bias

A cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they themselves are less likely to experience a negative event.

Also known as: Unrealistic Optimism

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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 3 min.

Catch it next time

Practical steps for Optimism Bias

1
Perform a "pre-mortem" analysis
high effectivenessmoderate difficulty

Tape this to your desk.

02

Common triggers

Planning for the future

Assessing personal risk

03

Typical contexts

Health behaviors (smoking, etc.)

Project planning

04

Mitigation strategies

Perform a "pre-mortem" analysis

Effectiveness: high

Difficulty: moderate

05

Potential decision harms

Underestimating risks

major Severity

Lack of preparation

moderate Severity