Social Biases Vocabulary

overemphasizing personality and underemphasizing situations when judging others' behavior

“Assuming the late colleague is lazy rather than stuck in traffic is the fundamental attribution error.”

letting one positive trait influence overall impression of a person

“The halo effect made the attractive candidate seem more competent in interviews.”

favoring members of one's own group over outsiders

“In-group bias led the committee to hire candidates from their alma mater.”

perceiving members of other groups as more similar to each other than they are

“Out-group homogeneity makes 'they all look alike' a common but mistaken perception.”

a widely held but oversimplified idea about a group

“The stereotype of engineers being socially awkward doesn't hold up to scrutiny.”

assuming others share one's current beliefs, values, or emotional states

“His projection bias made him think everyone found the joke as funny as he did.”

the belief that people get what they deserve

“The just-world hypothesis leads to blaming victims for their misfortunes.”

letting one negative trait overshadow overall impression

“One mistake created a horn effect, making everything else she did seem incompetent.”

attributing own actions to situations but others' actions to personality

“Actor-observer bias: 'I failed because the test was unfair; she failed because she's dumb.'”

favoring people who are similar to oneself

“Affinity bias in hiring leads to homogeneous teams that lack diversity of thought.”