Definition: Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias — in German: Bestätigungsfehler or Bestätigungstendenz — is a cognitive distortion in which people prefer to perceive and accept information that confirms their existing convictions, while tending to ignore or devalue contradictory information.
Examples of Confirmation Bias
Sound familiar?
After a misstep by a colleague, you suddenly notice new aspects that displease you. You pay more attention to every small inadequacy and also interpret neutral behaviours increasingly negatively. Even positive actions may be perceived by you as calculating or disingenuous because they don't fit into your already formed negative image.
What is the reason for that?
This Is Due to Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias describes the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that validates an existing opinion.
In doing so, characteristics that fit the existing opinion stand out more strongly — people even unconsciously search for them (Sans, 2020). This means that pre-existing attitudes towards a particular educational path, nationality, or religious affiliation influence a person's assessment to the extent that information confirming those attitudes is unconsciously noticed and retained more readily (Agarwal, 2018).
What else is a bias? We explain:
A bias generally describes a systematic distortion in human perception, thinking, or behavior. It is a type of “mental abbreviation” or bias that subconsciously influences our judgment and decision making.
These distortions can result from personal experiences, cultural influences, emotional states or evolutionary thought patterns. While they often help us make quick decisions, they can also lead to miscalculations and irrational decisions.
Other examples of biases in the HR process include:
- Primacy Effect: The First Impression Mistake
The first impression has a disproportionate influence on the overall assessment and is difficult to change. - Halo & Horns Effect: Distortion due to individual features
A single positive (halo) or negative (horn) aspect outshines a person's entire perception. - Affinity Bias (Mini-Me Effect): The Similarity Flaw
People who are similar to us are automatically rated more positively. - Status quo bias: favoring the existing
Existing conditions are preferred over changes, even if they would be beneficial. - Stereotypes, Gender, or Racial Bias
Unconscious prejudices against marginalized groups influence decisions. - Conformity Bias: The Adjustment Mistake
Adapting one's own decisions to group opinions due to fear of negative evaluation. - Illusory Correlation: The Perception of False Connections
False assumption of relationships between independent properties. - Contrast Bias: The Contrast Effect
Evaluation of a person in direct comparison with previous or successor rather than according to objective criteria. - Overconfidence Bias: The Trap of Overconfidence
Overestimation of one's own judgment and excessive reliance on “gut feeling.”
Identifying our own biases is the first step towards being able to make more aware and more objective decisions within personnel selection.
How structured pre-selection helps avoid this distortion is shown by Aivy's assessment procedures.
This effect is one of 17 patterns that shape hiring decisions. The overview is in Unconscious Bias in Recruiting.
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