Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is It?OriginsWhat Causes ItExamplesWhy It MattersHow to Avoid It
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is It?
Origins
What Causes It
Examples
Why It Matters
How to Avoid It
Close
Verywell / Cindy Chung
This shortcut can speed up thedecision-makingprocess, but it can also lead to poor choices and stereotypes.
For example, have you ever misjudged someone because they didn’t ‘fit’ a certain image you had in mind? For example, maybe you assumed that someone must work in finance, accounting, or some other business-related profession based on how they dress, only to find out they’re actually a musician or artist.
Because of the representativeness heuristic, you made a guess about what they do for a living based on your stereotypes about specific professional roles.
At a GlanceThe representativeness heuristic is just one type of mental shortcut that allows us to make decisions quickly in the face of uncertainty. While this can lead to quick thinking, it can also lead us to ignore factors that also shape events.Fortunately, being aware of this bias and actively trying to avoid it can help. The next time you are trying to make a decision, consider the way in which the representative heuristic might play a role in your thinking.
At a Glance
The representativeness heuristic is just one type of mental shortcut that allows us to make decisions quickly in the face of uncertainty. While this can lead to quick thinking, it can also lead us to ignore factors that also shape events.Fortunately, being aware of this bias and actively trying to avoid it can help. The next time you are trying to make a decision, consider the way in which the representative heuristic might play a role in your thinking.
The representativeness heuristic is just one type of mental shortcut that allows us to make decisions quickly in the face of uncertainty. While this can lead to quick thinking, it can also lead us to ignore factors that also shape events.
Fortunately, being aware of this bias and actively trying to avoid it can help. The next time you are trying to make a decision, consider the way in which the representative heuristic might play a role in your thinking.
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What Is the Representativeness Heuristic?
The problem is that people often overestimate the similarity between the two things they compare.
When making decisions or judgments, we often use mental shortcuts or “rules of thumb,” known asheuristics. The fact is that we just don’t always have the time or resources to compare all the information before we make a choice, so we use heuristics to help us reach decisions quickly and efficiently.
Sometimes these mental shortcuts can be helpful, but in other cases, they can lead to errors orcognitive biases.
History of the Representativeness Heuristic
In their classicexperiment, Tversky and Kahneman gave participants a description of a person named Tom, who was orderly, detail-oriented, competent, self-centered, with a strong moral sense. Participants were then asked to determine Tom’s college major.
The study’s participants ignored other clues that might have pointed them in a different direction, such as the fact that there were relatively few engineering students at their school. Based purely on probability, it would have made more sense for them to predict that Tom was majoring in a more popular subject.
Tversky and Kahneman’s study demonstrated how influential the representativeness heuristic can be when making decisions and judgments.
In 2002, Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for his research on factors that affect judgment and decision-making in the face of uncertainty.(Tversky was not eligible because he passed away in 1996, and the Noble Prize is not awarded posthumously.)
What Causes the Representativeness Heuristic?
So why does representativeness play such a role in guiding our judgements, often in the face of contrary evidence? There are several different factors that can play a role in the use of representativeness when making judgments. Some of these include:
Our Cognitive Resources Are Limited
While our cognitive resources are limited, we still have thousands of decisions to make every day. To make the most of what we have, we rely on heuristics. These shortcuts allow us to conserve mental resources and still make decisions quickly and efficiently.
We Categories People and Objects
Making decisions based on representativeness involves comparing an object or situation to theschemasor mental prototypes we already have in mind. Such schemas are based on past learning. We can also change our existing categories based on the new things we learn.
If an existing schema doesn’t adequately account for the current situation, it can lead to poor judgments.
We Overestimate the Importance of Similarity
In Tversky and Kahneman’s famous study, people assumed that Tom was an engineering major because he fit a stereotype they might have encountered in the past. They overestimated the importance of the similarity between Tom and their mental prototype.
In this case, other sources of information were even more relevant, such as the fact that engineering students made up only a tiny portion of the student population and that the general description could fit a wide range of students from all different walks of life.
Examples of the Representativeness Heuristic
It can be helpful to examine a few examples of how the representativeness heuristic works in real life. For example
In the Workplace
The heuristic can affect decisions made in the workplace. In one study, for example, researchers found that managers made biased decisions more than 50% of the time, many of which were based on representativeness.
In Social Relationships
Representativeness can affect the judgments we make when meeting new people. It may lead us to form inaccurate impressions of others, such as misjudging a new acquaintance or blind date.
In Political Choices
This heuristic can also influence how people vote and the candidates they support.For example, a person might support a political candidate because they fit the mental image of someone they think is a great leader without really learning about that person’s platform.
What Are the Effects of the Representativeness Heuristic?
The representativeness heuristic is pervasive and can play a major role in many real-lifedecisions and judgments. In many cases, this can lead to poor judgments that can have serious consequences.
Criminal Justice
Jurors may judge guilt based on how closely a defendant matches their prototype of a “guilty” suspect or how well the crime represents a specific crime category.
For example, a person accused of abducting a child for ransom may be more likely to be viewed as guilty than someone accused of kidnapping an adult for no ransom.
The representativeness heuristic is thought to play a role inracial biasin the criminal justice system. Studies have found that jurors in mock trials are more likely to hand down guilty verdicts to defendants who belong to ethnic minority groups commonly associated in the media with crime.
Such findings also play out in real-world settings—research has found that Black defendants are less likely to be offered plea bargains and receive longer, more severe sentences than White defendants who have been charged with the same crimes.
Healthcare
Doctors and healthcare professionals may make diagnostic and treatment decisions based on how well a patient and their symptoms match an existing prototype. Unfortunately, this can lead professionals to overestimate similarity and ignore other relevant information.
For example, a physician might rule out a relevant diagnosis because a patient does not fit their expected prototype for someone with that condition.
One study found that in 49.6% of cases, the final diagnosis matched a doctor’s first diagnostic impression, suggesting that representativeness plays a role in doctors' decisions.
Interpersonal Perceptions
This heuristic can also play a role in our assessments about other people. We tend to develop ideas about how people in certain roles should behave.
In another variation of Tversky and Kahnemahn famous research, they described a man named Steve as shy, withdrawn, and helpful despite having little interest in other people.
Would you think that Steve was a librarian or a farmer? Like most of us, most participants immediately picked librarian based entirely on representativeness.
A farmer, for example, might be seen as hard-working, outdoorsy, and tough. A librarian, on the other hand, might be viewed as being quiet, organized, and reserved.
Stereotypes
Because people are so prone to drawing on prototypes to guide decisions, it can also lead to problems such asprejudice. The prototypes people hold can become stereotypes, which leads people to make prejudiced judgments of other people.
Such stereotypes can also lead tosystemic discriminationagainst different groups of people.
How to Avoid the Representativeness Heuristic
The representativeness heuristic isn’t easy to avoid, but there are some things that you can do to help minimize its effects. This can help you make more accurate judgments in your day-to-day life. Things you can do include:
What Is the Availability Heuristic?
10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kahneman D, Tversky A.On the psychology of prediction.Psychological Review. 1973;80(4):237-251. doi:10.1037/h0034747Smith D.Psychologist wins Nobel prize.Monitor on Psychology. 2002;33(11):22.AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. Published 2019 Apr 10. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092Stolwijk S.The representativeness heuristic in political decision making. In:Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press; 2019. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.981Curley LJ, Munro J, Dror IE.Cognitive and human factors in legal layperson decision making: Sources of bias in juror decision making.Med Sci Law. 2022;62(3):206-215. doi:10.1177/00258024221080655United States Sentencing Commission.Demographic differences in sentencing.Payne VL, Crowley RS.Assessing the use of cognitive heuristic representativeness in clinical reasoning.AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008;2008:571-575.Fernández‐Aguilar C, Martín‐Martín JJ, Minué Lorenzo S, Fernández Ajuria A.Use of heuristics during the clinical decision process from family care physicians in real conditions.Evaluation Clinical Practice. 2022;28(1):135-141. doi:10.1111/jep.13608Hinton, P.Implicit stereotypes and the predictive brain: cognition and culture in “biased” person perception.Palgrave Commu. 2017;3:17086. doi:10.1057/palcomms.2017.86Kahneman D.A perspective on judgment and choice: Mapping bounded rationality.American Psychologist. 2003;58(9):697-720. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.9.697
10 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kahneman D, Tversky A.On the psychology of prediction.Psychological Review. 1973;80(4):237-251. doi:10.1037/h0034747Smith D.Psychologist wins Nobel prize.Monitor on Psychology. 2002;33(11):22.AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. Published 2019 Apr 10. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092Stolwijk S.The representativeness heuristic in political decision making. In:Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press; 2019. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.981Curley LJ, Munro J, Dror IE.Cognitive and human factors in legal layperson decision making: Sources of bias in juror decision making.Med Sci Law. 2022;62(3):206-215. doi:10.1177/00258024221080655United States Sentencing Commission.Demographic differences in sentencing.Payne VL, Crowley RS.Assessing the use of cognitive heuristic representativeness in clinical reasoning.AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008;2008:571-575.Fernández‐Aguilar C, Martín‐Martín JJ, Minué Lorenzo S, Fernández Ajuria A.Use of heuristics during the clinical decision process from family care physicians in real conditions.Evaluation Clinical Practice. 2022;28(1):135-141. doi:10.1111/jep.13608Hinton, P.Implicit stereotypes and the predictive brain: cognition and culture in “biased” person perception.Palgrave Commu. 2017;3:17086. doi:10.1057/palcomms.2017.86Kahneman D.A perspective on judgment and choice: Mapping bounded rationality.American Psychologist. 2003;58(9):697-720. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.9.697
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Kahneman D, Tversky A.On the psychology of prediction.Psychological Review. 1973;80(4):237-251. doi:10.1037/h0034747Smith D.Psychologist wins Nobel prize.Monitor on Psychology. 2002;33(11):22.AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. Published 2019 Apr 10. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092Stolwijk S.The representativeness heuristic in political decision making. In:Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press; 2019. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.981Curley LJ, Munro J, Dror IE.Cognitive and human factors in legal layperson decision making: Sources of bias in juror decision making.Med Sci Law. 2022;62(3):206-215. doi:10.1177/00258024221080655United States Sentencing Commission.Demographic differences in sentencing.Payne VL, Crowley RS.Assessing the use of cognitive heuristic representativeness in clinical reasoning.AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008;2008:571-575.Fernández‐Aguilar C, Martín‐Martín JJ, Minué Lorenzo S, Fernández Ajuria A.Use of heuristics during the clinical decision process from family care physicians in real conditions.Evaluation Clinical Practice. 2022;28(1):135-141. doi:10.1111/jep.13608Hinton, P.Implicit stereotypes and the predictive brain: cognition and culture in “biased” person perception.Palgrave Commu. 2017;3:17086. doi:10.1057/palcomms.2017.86Kahneman D.A perspective on judgment and choice: Mapping bounded rationality.American Psychologist. 2003;58(9):697-720. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.9.697
Kahneman D, Tversky A.On the psychology of prediction.Psychological Review. 1973;80(4):237-251. doi:10.1037/h0034747
Smith D.Psychologist wins Nobel prize.Monitor on Psychology. 2002;33(11):22.
AlKhars M, Evangelopoulos N, Pavur R, Kulkarni S.Cognitive biases resulting from the representativeness heuristic in operations management: an experimental investigation.Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2019;12:263-276. Published 2019 Apr 10. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S193092
Stolwijk S.The representativeness heuristic in political decision making. In:Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press; 2019. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.981
Curley LJ, Munro J, Dror IE.Cognitive and human factors in legal layperson decision making: Sources of bias in juror decision making.Med Sci Law. 2022;62(3):206-215. doi:10.1177/00258024221080655
United States Sentencing Commission.Demographic differences in sentencing.
Payne VL, Crowley RS.Assessing the use of cognitive heuristic representativeness in clinical reasoning.AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2008;2008:571-575.
Fernández‐Aguilar C, Martín‐Martín JJ, Minué Lorenzo S, Fernández Ajuria A.Use of heuristics during the clinical decision process from family care physicians in real conditions.Evaluation Clinical Practice. 2022;28(1):135-141. doi:10.1111/jep.13608
Hinton, P.Implicit stereotypes and the predictive brain: cognition and culture in “biased” person perception.Palgrave Commu. 2017;3:17086. doi:10.1057/palcomms.2017.86
Kahneman D.A perspective on judgment and choice: Mapping bounded rationality.American Psychologist. 2003;58(9):697-720. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.9.697
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