One such bias, the "choice-supportive bias", operates by letting us adjust our assessment of previous choices to come out "smelling like a rose". As Erik Benson at the "Radical Mutual Improvement" blog notes, this bias "makes one tend to believe that their choices of the past were better than they actually were". He gives three reasons why we find this bias so easy to follow:
1. Having a rich understanding of choice taken, while having an abstract or distant idea of the choice not taken. Just like we are more attached to people we come into contact with every day than we are of people who live on the other side of the world (even if both are equal strangers to us), we are attached more to our own decisions than of decisions not taken.Researchers Mather and Henkel observed that choice-supportive bias has as much or more to do with *how* we remember than *what*. In one experiment, they manipulated the memory retrieval of some subjects by "reminding" them of choices they did not actually make. These subjects showed just as strong belief in their "assumed" choices as those who were "reminded" of their actual choices.
2. The "it's too late anyway" line of reasoning. As soon as we begin to think about that other choice, we have a short circuit that turns it off because "it's too late anyway" and "better make due with what we have".
3. It supports the belief that we are learning and growing through the choices we have made. We assume that every experience is a one of learning, even though we are only learning about the choices we have made and not about the choices we didn't make. Just because a choice led to a good outcome doesn't mean that the other one wouldn't have led to an equal or better one. However, it's more difficult to assume that that's possible.
In a related study, Mather and other researchers speculated that the heuristics we use to estimate "memorability" of a choice directly influences how we feel about our remembered choice.
In recalling past choices, people expect the chosen option to contain more positive and fewer negative features than do its competitors. In recalling past assignments, in contrast, people expect the assigned option to be remembered better than the unassigned alternatives. This vividness heuristic leads to systematic misattribution of new features to unassigned alternatives, but not in a manner supportive of the assigned option.So what does all this mean for YOU, dear reader? Well, that's simple--but not easy!
First, you will want to put some effort into becoming aware of moments when this bias may influence your thinking. Trent at "The Simple Dollar" poses this example:
For example, let’s say you’re shopping for cars and you’re down to a final choice between a Mercury Sable and a Lexus LS 300. Both have distinct advantages, but no matter which one you select, those are the advantages you will remember, not the advantages of the car you didn’t choose.Knowing this *might* (will?) happen gives you a handle you can use to get control of this bias.
Simply put, you will have a better idea of the effectiveness of your choices if you recognize that *what* you remember and *how* you remember may not accurately reflect what you *really* chose to begin with. Sure, that sounds pretty hard. But here's some ideas that might help:
1. When you make a choice you think you might want to review later, write it down. Try to include some info about why you made the choice you did: you had reasons, right? Try to suggest to your future self what sort of outcome you expected, too, since we do want to improve predictability, right?
2. When making a decision that you consider important, take extra time to weigh all the options, making sure to a) scrutinize the initially less attractive options; and b) include as many of the costs and benefits as you can think of, not just the apparent face value of the alternatives.
3. When recalling your decision later, review the original choices with an eye toward what you *actually* thought at the time, and only then consider if you still agree with yourself now.
4. Do not hesitate to *change your mind*!
The Choice-Support Bias militates against changing your mind, which leads you into a rut, believing that your choice has all the good traits you want, and none of the bad traits. Why cut yourself off from likely benefits just because "that's the way I've always done it"?
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