Breaking Down Biases - 2

Have you ever had your judgement interfered by something you just can’t explain? If you’ve ever had a mental block when making decisions or taking a stance on an opinion, you’ve most likely encountered the world of cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are errors in your judgement or way of thinking, they’re like shortcuts that arise from social influences, emotions, limited information, among many other things. Within “Breaking Down Biases” we will explore different cognitive biases and how they play into everyday lives. 

Have you ever been inclined to believe a piece of information solely because it’s what everyone else seems to believe? If you’ve ever started liking or believing something because of its rapid uprise, you may have fallen victim to the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect refers to the process and or habit of adopting beliefs and behaviors because many others do the same. 

This bias can occur in a multitude of settings, however, with the rise of social media and influencers this bias is at an all time high. Consumerism is one of the top known settings where this bias occurs, especially within fast-fashion. Given recent trends such as leopard print, bubble skirts, and graphic baby tees, have you ever stopped to think about if you even like these things individually? It’s alright if you do! However, if these things were not as advertised as they were on platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram, you may have little to no interest in them at all. After seeing these items everywhere, people tend to take a liking to them due to the familiarity and need to fit in with others, also known as the bandwagon effect.

The major effects of the bandwagon effect are personal, mostly interfering with critical thinking skills. With the need to constantly seek approval from others, it’s easy to override your own sense of style, thought process, and other parts of yourself that are supposed to be unique to you. This bias can have incredibly dangerous effects once the popular belief can be physically or mentally harming humanity, we see this often within the trends of body-image. Many influencers cater to a certain look that can sometimes only be achieved through plastic surgery or unhealthy habits and given the fact most of their following is young/teenage girls this mindset should not be shared.

Why does this happen though? Humans rely on mental shortcuts known as “heuristics” and the bandwagon effect can make decision making nearly rapid because it usually requires no critical thinking skills. When people are in favor of something, it can seem like a safe choice even if there’s no real validity to the point. Apart from the general convenience of the effect, people tend to fall victim to this bias due to wanting to fit it and wanting to be on the winning side. People will always want to feel correct, validated, and important and this bias allows them to do just that. “Pop Culture” will continue to make this bias a prominent one and it may lead to a further downfall of critical thinking skills. It’s thought that people often choose the winning side due to the fact that the losing side can often face major disadvantages. Historically, that idea makes sense, however, the disadvantages are more social today rather than anything else that could have been a part of the past, at least in the United States. This is not to say physical violence among other unimaginable things could take place as a result of disagreement, but it is not nearly as common in the US compared to other countries and or other time periods. Expressing yourself is a part of humanity, so we shouldn’t limit that to fit.

Slowing this bias down or avoiding it completely can be seemingly easier than certain other biases, the main parts of avoiding this bias include understanding why you like and believe what you do. Slowing down your thinking and taking a minute to think “why?” can help you wonder if you really support something or not. One of the most effective ways to see through this bias is to look at the opposing ideas and beliefs or just being able to look at things through multiple perspectives. This bias will most likely never be ruled out completely, but in order to preserve your own critical thinking skills you should be on the look out for it!

“Bandwagon Effect - the Decision Lab.” The Decision Lab, thedecisionlab.com/biases/bandwagon-effect.