Increasing your confidence, self-esteem, and overall well-being begins with understanding the powerful influence of cognitive biases on our thoughts and decisions.
Though we want to think of ourselves as rational, our minds can sometimes play tricks on us, with various factors clouding our judgment and swaying our decision-making process.
We know of over 175 documented cognitive biases that act as a kind of „mental shortcut“. These are sometimes harmless or even good, but they can also have an unintended harmful impact on ourselves or our peers.
Being Aware Of Biases
A 2021 study found that mindful people were less susceptible to cognitive biases. Being aware of your cognitive biases enables you to more objective in situations. Not only that, but understanding that others are subject to biases as well can help you evaluate reactions and situations in order to take things less personally, be more confident, and at peace, aligning with the principles of positive psychology.
Five Useful Cognitive Biases
Here are five cognitive biases that can help you boost your confidence, happiness, and reframe negative thoughts:
1. Dunning-Kruger Effect
The more you know, the more likely you are to doubt your knowledge.
Knowing how much you don’t know causes you to underestimate your knowledge, whilst less knowledgeable individuals tend to be over-confident in their abilities.
How Can This Help Me?
Being aware of this cognitive bias can be a comfort the next time you are unsure of your abilities in a field you are familiar with. This bias can remind you to stress less over a presentation or exam instead of marinating yourself in doubt.
2. Fundamental Attribution Error
I act the way I do due to circumstances, but others act the way they do due to their character.
Because you are you, you are aware of all the things that influence your behavior. A breakup, a terrible night’s sleep, menstruation cramps, a particularly nasty employer might all momentarily cause you to be less pleasant, slow, or thoughtless.
However, the same behavior from a stranger elicits a different emotion in you since you cannot relate the behavior to what conditions caused it. Instead, we are more prone to believe that the person’s character and personality are what caused them to act, as in „they are just like that.“
How Can This Help Me?
Knowing that this is a common bias in most individuals can ease your mind in stressful situations.
When a passerby or a stranger in the city complains about how slow you are or how you didn’t see them when you bumped into them, remember that they see you as a „side character“, unable to judge all the reasons this could have happened, and if it were them in the same situation, they would understand.
With the help of knowledge of this cognitive bias, you can take things less personally. (Also, be mindful of how you react to people and whether there is a call to be more empathic of what is going on rather than leaning toward blame.)
3. Curse Of Knowledge
Once something is learnt, the knowledge seems obvious.
When we gain a grasp of what we formerly thought was complex, we forget what it was like not have that knowledge.
Can you recall what it was like not to understand that notion or topic that you delved into two or five years ago?
This is an important bias to be conscious if you are tutoring or teaching, as you may undersimplify basic topics, leaving your peers feeling criticized or bewildered.
How Can This Help Me?
This cognitive bias can come in handy the next time you feel patronized or dumb-declared by someone who knows more about a subject. Know that they, like you, didn’t know once, and that they probably just forgot that.
Be aware of this in regard to Dunning-Krueger bias as well, and you will be able to stand confidently.
4. Negativity Bias
Negative situations tend to stand out and be overrepresented in your memory.
Even after a day of 10 compliments, one harsh remark may ruin your afternoon. Because of how we are designed for survival, our attention is drawn disproportionately to unpleasant emotions, while we ignore positive events.
How Can This Help Me?
Remember that cringe-worthy thing you did at the party? And that strange remark that slipped out during the family gathering? Of course you do, but it get lost in the midst of everything else you said and did.
This horrible experience only stands out in your mind, not in reality. The disproportionality of the negative serves a social function, but it is crucial to recognize that this might have a detrimental impact on your attitude and confidence.
Next time you think of something you regret in a social situation, try to focus on recalling three positive things you did or said – a tiny kindness, a good hug, a joke that made everyone laugh – and see how you feel.
5. Spotlight Effect
We tend to overestimate how much people pay attention to us.
We have a tendency to believe that there is a stagelight or spotlight pointed solely at us, and everyone is intently studying what we are doing and continually judging us.
Everyone thinks about how they look and act just as much as you do. Most individuals are more preoccupied with themselves than with what you are doing.
When you are worried about being judged, keep in mind that most individuals are concerned with being respected and liked.
Not only can this help you acquireconfidence and relax, but you can also use this information to bring happiness to people by making them feel accepted, demonstrating emotional intelligence.
How Can This Help Me?
Calling this bias, along with the negativitybias, to mind will help you acquire confidence by reminding you that most people are less focused on you than you believe.
What To Take Away?
Cognitive biases effect not only us, but everyone else as well. Being aware of this reality and employing critical thinking can be a very effective strategy for dealing with feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty, allowing you to acquire confidence and mindfulness in your daily interactions.
Do you catch yourself affected by these biases? Comment down below which ones!
