Anchoring effect: the characteristics of this cognitive bias

This phenomenon causes us to be driven by irrationality when making decisions.

To what extent are we fully free, unbiased and safe from any influence when making a decision? Although we may not be aware of it, there are countless factors that exert a great influence on us in the decision-making process.

An example of this is the anchoring effectAccording to this, something as simple as the way or the order in which certain information is presented to us can determine the way in which we will interpret the rest and, consequently, our subsequent decisions.

What is the anchoring effect?

The anchoring effect, also known as the "focalism effect", is a psychological phenomenon. categorized within the group of cognitive biases .. This effect describes the tendency of people to retain more of the first information offered to them, which influences subsequent decision-making.

That is to say, when a person is faced with a source of information, whatever its nature, the data presented at the beginning are "anchored" in the person's memory much more strongly than later ones.

Therefore, during a decision-making process, the anchoring effect is always present when people unconsciously use the perceived information to make decisions. unconsciously use the information perceived at the beginning of the process when forming an opinion, making a judgment or a decision. At the moment the anchor is formed, all other opinions are formed around this information, hence it is considered a cognitive bias.

This tendency to determine information as a starting point, from which we will develop our opinions and decisions, is observed in virtually all areas of our lives, so that just as it can play against us, we can use it to our advantage.

An example is found when discussing or haggling over the price of a house, a car or any object for which we must pay or receive a value. The amount that this established in an initial way will be our point of reference at the time of comparison or to make proposals. Knowing this, if the initial price is very high, it is very likely that, even if we lower the price, the final established cost will continue to be higher than what we were probably willing to pay, but lower compared to the previous one.

What is the explanation for this effect?

Although there are many theories that attempt to explain this phenomenon, there is no consensus as to which of them offers the most accurate clarification. Most researchers and theorists refer to the anchoring effect as a phenomenon that is easy to demonstrate but difficult to describe. However, there are three different explanations that can give us a clue as to the causes of this effect.

1. Anchoring and adjustment

According to this explanation, once anchoring occurs, people tend to move away from it to make their final decision. Despite this, they do so ineffectively, so that their final decision is closer to the final one. their final decision is closer to the anchored information than it would be if they had not than it would be if they had not resisted.

This hypothesis has been widely criticized since, for this, the anchoring effect would have to occur consciously; when in reality the person is not consciously aware of it.

2. Selective accessibility

An alternative explanation is derived from what is known as "confirmatory hypothesis testing". According to the theory of selective accessibility, when presented with information with which to anchor, the person makes an evaluation in which he/she thinks about whether it is an appropriate response, and if it is not, he/she will make a series of subsequent judgments, but all of them will always be related to the information used as an "anchor".

3. Change of attitude

The last of the explanations provided by cognitive science is that which explains anchoring with respect to attitude change. According to this theory, when an "anchor" information is given, a change or alteration of the person's attitude takes place with the aim of making it more favorable to the specific characteristics of this information, which predisposes future responses to be more favorable to the specific characteristics of this information. predisposes future responses to be similar to the anchor..

What are the influencing factors?

There are a series of factors or conditioning factors that can modulate, to a certain extent, the form and intensity with which the anchoring process takes place. These include mood, experience, personality and cognitive abilities..

1. State of mind

Some research has revealed that our mood influences the likelihood of being carried away or not by the anchoring effect. Specifically, people in a sad or depressed mood tend to make more thorough and accurate evaluations of information, thus and accurate evaluations of information, making it less likely that an anchoring effect will occur.

However, other studies reveal very different dynamics whereby depressed people tend to be more passive in their decision making and may therefore be more easily influenced.

2. Experience

Other studies point to the idea that people with high knowledge and experience in the particular field to which the "anchor" information refers are much less susceptible to the effects of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, the theorists themselves say that even experts are not completely free from this effect..

3. Personality

According to some research correlating the degree of susceptibility to the anchoring effect with some of the Big Five traits, people with a high degree of agreeableness and conscientiousness are more likely to be affected by anchoring, while subjects with high extroversion are much less likely.

4. Cognitive abilities

Although the impact of cognitive ability on the anchoring effect is controversial, recent studies revealed that this phenomenon decreases with people who possess more cognitive abilitiesbut in any case, not even these were free of it.