Social Biases
Social biases affect how we explain behavior, judge groups, follow authority, and protect our self-image.
01
Fundamental attribution error
Overexplaining others' behavior by character and underexplaining situation.
02
Actor-observer bias
Explaining your actions by context and others' actions by personality.
03
Self-serving bias
Taking credit for success and blaming outside causes for failure.
04
In-group bias
Favoring people who feel like part of your group.
05
Out-group homogeneity bias
Seeing outsiders as more alike than they are.
06
Halo effect
Letting one positive trait improve the whole judgment.
07
Horn effect
Letting one negative trait spoil the whole judgment.
08
Stereotyping
Applying group assumptions to an individual.
09
Prejudice bias
Judging through preexisting negative attitudes toward a group.
10
Authority bias
Giving extra weight to authority figures.
11
Bandwagon effect
Believing or doing something because many others do.
12
Groupthink
Suppressing doubts to preserve group harmony.
13
Conformity bias
Adjusting beliefs or behavior to match the group.
14
Social desirability bias
Saying what sounds acceptable rather than what is true.
15
False consensus effect
Overestimating how much others agree with you.
16
False uniqueness bias
Seeing your strengths or views as more unusual than they are.
17
Spotlight effect
Overestimating how much others notice you.
18
Transparency illusion
Overestimating how obvious your thoughts or feelings are.
19
Illusory superiority
Seeing yourself as above average too easily.
20
Impostor phenomenon
Discounting competence and fearing exposure as a fraud.
21
Moral credential effect
Using past goodness to excuse later questionable behavior.
22
Just-world hypothesis
Assuming people get what they deserve.
23
System justification bias
Defending existing systems because they feel normal.
24
Ultimate attribution error
Explaining out-group failures by character and successes by luck.
25
Hostile attribution bias
Interpreting ambiguous behavior as hostile.
26
Trait ascription bias
Seeing yourself as flexible and others as predictable.
27
Naive realism
Believing you see reality plainly and others are biased.
28
Bias blind spot
Noticing bias in others more easily than in yourself.
29
Third-person effect
Thinking media affects others more than it affects you.