Editing Cognitive bias (section)

== Practical significance ==
{{Further|Confirmation bias#Consequences}}

Many social institutions rely on individuals to make rational judgments.

The securities regulation regime largely assumes that all investors act as perfectly rational persons. In truth, actual investors face cognitive limitations from biases, heuristics, and framing effects.

A fair [[jury trial]], for example, requires that the jury ignore irrelevant features of the case, weigh the relevant features appropriately, consider different possibilities open-mindedly and resist [[fallacies]] such as [[appeal to emotion]]. The various biases demonstrated in these psychological experiments suggest that people will frequently fail to do all these things.<ref>{{cite book | last = Sutherland | first = Stuart | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2007 | title = Irrationality: The Enemy Within | edition = Second | publisher = Pinter & Martin | isbn = 978-1-905177-07-3 }}</ref> However, they fail to do so in systematic, directional ways that are predictable.<ref name="Ariely.2008"/>

In some academic disciplines, the study of bias is very popular. For instance, bias is a wide spread and well studied phenomenon because most decisions that concern the minds and hearts of entrepreneurs are computationally intractable.<ref name="S.X. Zhang and J. Cueto 2015"/>

Cognitive biases can create other issues that arise in everyday life. One study showed the connection between cognitive bias, specifically approach bias, and inhibitory control on how much unhealthy snack food a person would eat.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kakoschke N, Kemps E, Tiggemann M | title = Combined effects of cognitive bias for food cues and poor inhibitory control on unhealthy food intake | journal = Appetite | volume = 87 | pages = 358–64 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25592403 | doi = 10.1016/j.appet.2015.01.004 | hdl = 2328/35717 | s2cid = 31561602 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> They found that the participants who ate more of the unhealthy snack food, tended to have less inhibitory control and more reliance on approach bias. Others have also hypothesized that cognitive biases could be linked to various eating disorders and how people view their bodies and their body image.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Williamson DA, Muller SL, Reas DL, Thaw JM | title = Cognitive bias in eating disorders: implications for theory and treatment | journal = Behavior Modification | volume = 23 | issue = 4 | pages = 556–77 | date = October 1999 | pmid = 10533440 | doi = 10.1177/0145445599234003 | s2cid = 36189809 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Williamson|first=Donald A.| name-list-style = vanc |date=1996|title=Body image disturbance in eating disorders: A form of cognitive bias? |journal=Eating Disorders|language=en|volume=4|issue=1|pages=47–58|doi=10.1080/10640269608250075|issn=1064-0266 }}</ref>

It has also been argued that cognitive biases can be used in destructive ways.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Trout J |date=2005|title=Paternalism and Cognitive Bias|journal=Law and Philosophy|language=en|volume=24|issue=4|pages=393–434|doi=10.1007/s10982-004-8197-3|s2cid=143783638|issn=0167-5249}}</ref> Some believe that there are people in authority who use cognitive biases and heuristics in order to manipulate others so that they can reach their end goals. Some medications and other health care treatments rely on cognitive biases in order to persuade others who are susceptible to cognitive biases to use their products. Many see this as taking advantage of one's natural struggle of judgement and decision-making. They also believe that it is the government's responsibility to regulate these misleading ads.

Cognitive biases also seem to play a role in property sale price and value. Participants in the experiment were shown a residential property.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Deborah S. |last2=Frethey-Bentham |first2=Catherine | name-list-style = vanc |date=2010|title=The effect of context and the level of decision maker training on the perception of a property's probable sale price |journal=Journal of Property Research|language=en|volume=27|issue=3|pages=247–267|doi=10.1080/09599916.2010.518406|s2cid=154866472 |issn=0959-9916}}</ref> Afterwards, they were shown another property that was completely unrelated to the first property. They were asked to say what they believed the value and the sale price of the second property would be. They found that showing the participants an unrelated property did have an effect on how they valued the second property.

Cognitive biases can be used in non-destructive ways. In team science and collective problem-solving, the [[superiority bias]] can be beneficial. It leads to a diversity of solutions within a group, especially in complex problems, by preventing premature consensus on suboptimal solutions. This example demonstrates how a cognitive bias, typically seen as a hindrance, can enhance collective decision-making by encouraging a wider exploration of possibilities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boroomand |first1=Amin |last2=Smaldino |first2=Paul E. |title=Superiority bias and communication noise can enhance collective problem-solving. |journal=Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation |date=2023 |volume=26 |issue=3 |doi=10.18564/jasss.5154|doi-access=free }}</ref> 

Cognitive biases are interlinked with collective illusions, a phenomenon where a group of people mistakenly believe that their views and preferences are shared by the majority, when in reality, they are not. These illusions often arise from various cognitive biases that misrepresent our perception of social norms and influence how we assess the beliefs of others.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Todd |title=Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions |date=1 February 2022 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-0-306-92570-2 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Collective_Illusions/j_4xEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bandwagon+effect%2Bcollective+illusions&pg=PT53&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>