Buzz
It seems there may be some merit to the old saying 'fake it 'til you make it.' Studies reveal that 'proxies of expertise'—characteristics we commonly associate with experience, such as confidence—can deceive our minds into assuming someone is knowledgeable, even if they aren't.
This is a manifestation of unconscious bias, and while these 'mental shortcuts' assist our brains in processing vast amounts of data and making quicker decisions, they can also cloud our judgment, as The New York Times highlights.
A study by University of Utah researchers found that when we’re choosing whose opinion to trust, how someone speaks or presents themselves often carries more weight than their actual expertise or credentials. Attributes like confidence and sociability are frequently misinterpreted as signs of expertise.
"We'd hope that facts would be the driving force of influence," Bryan L. Bonner, the lead researcher of the study, shared with The Wall Street Journal. "Yet, we often make assumptions about who’s the expert—and we get it wrong."
Another study revealed that a person’s actual influence is often overshadowed by 'airtime'—the time they spend speaking, as Strategy+Business reports. Similarly, the status-enhancement theory suggests that one can gain influence by projecting dominance and confidence.
Unconscious biases can lead to quick judgments influenced by cultural context and personal experiences, even though we're unaware of the reasoning behind them. For instance, a school hiring an English teacher might discard a candidate’s application simply because their name sounds foreign, without even realizing they are doing so.
There are various types of unconscious bias, some of which can lead to harsh judgments when they're not justified, while others may have the opposite effect. One such bias, known as the Halo Effect, occurs when we allow someone's positive traits to overshadow their flaws. For example, you might admire someone who recently won a major award, but overlook poor choices they’ve made elsewhere in their life. The reverse is the Horns Effect—when we focus only on a person's faults.
Although overcoming these unconscious biases is challenging, simply being aware of them can help limit their undue influence on your decisions.
