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The Effect of Bias on Problem Solving

Types of bias

Bias is a widely studied phenomenon in problem-solving research. It involves allowing mental or emotional factors to distort your perception of reality. This skews the problem-solving process. It can influence the data you choose to gather, your analysis of a problem, the solution you choose, and the way you go about implementing the solution. Ultimately, it's the source of most mind traps people fall into when attempting to solve problems.

Two of the most important categories of bias are cognitive bias and motivational bias:

• Cognitive bias is a deviation that occurs when you don't follow rational and predictable methods of information processing.
• Motivational bias causes people to see things in a way that relates to their own goals or needs – preventing them from seeing things completely objectively.

Your mind can only process a limited amount of information. However, various mental shortcuts – the different types of cognitive bias – help you to raise this limit. Because these shortcuts introduce bias, your thoughts and actions differ from what can be measured objectively.

Different types of cognitive bias include the following:

• framing – Framing refers to the way you present or initially perceive a situation. Positive framing emphasizes possible benefits, whereas negative framing emphasizes possible losses or risks. The way you frame a situation affects traits such as risk-taking. A phenomenon related to framing bias is task perception bias, which can affect how you interpret problems. This occurs if you allow your view of a situation to be influenced by superficial details, such as the way tasks or processes are named.
• anchoring – Anchoring bias occurs when you allow your initial data on a problem to outweigh later information that differs from it. It results from the way you build up ideas – by taking initial values and adding to them as you acquire more data. Anchoring bias can also appear when you allow results obtained in similar but different situations to influence your decisions.
• availability – The availability bias occurs because you don't process all forms of information equally. How data is presented influences your reaction to it.
• overconfidence – Being too confident can impair your judgment, leading you to overestimate the likely success of possible solutions and to overlook potential risks. Research has shown that overconfident problem solvers are more confrontational, and ignore alternative solutions that could provide better results.

Motivational bias arises because people's approaches to problems are affected by their own goals or needs. It's difficult to guard against motivational bias because it can be difficult to spot. Types of motivational bias include the following:

• self-enhancement bias – This occurs when you choose solutions that maximize your well-being or make you look good, instead of the solutions that address problems most effectively.
• cooperation bias – Cooperation bias arises when you focus on finding solutions that will please everyone, in order to avoid jeopardizing future cooperation within a group. Sometimes this goal can bias your judgment and prevent the best possible solution to a problem – which may not please all participants – from being chosen.
• need for closure bias – It's natural to want to solve problems and move on – and sometimes deadlines mean that solutions are needed quickly. However, a need for closure can create bias by leading you to cut the problem-solving process short. Working under pressure can cause you to oversimplify complex situations and overlook possible solutions.

Recognizing bias in problem solving

Recognizing the types of distortions that may creep into your thinking is the first step toward dealing with bias in your problem-solving process. One way of eliminating bias is by following a systematic problem-solving process, like the six-step model.

In addition, you can take specific actions to help prevent bias from skewing the results of the problem-solving process:

• identify types of bias likely to arise – Different types of bias are likely to appear at different stages of the problem-solving process. Knowing which types of bias to look out for – and when – can help you ensure that the problem-solving process stays objective.
• redesign your approach – Each step of the problem-solving process can be completed in a variety of ways. So you can redesign the process to help eliminate specific types of bias.
• watch for evidence of bias – It's important that you keep watch for any of the types of bias that can arise during the problem-solving process. This ensures that you can then take action to prevent the process from becoming skewed. In a team, it's important to ensure all members are aware of the types of bias that can arise and of the negative effects they can have.
• act to counter bias – Once any bias is detected, it's important to take immediate steps to counter it. You can do this by making participants aware that they are demonstrating bias and encouraging them to adjust their thinking appropriately. It can also help to encourage problem solvers to record their ideas and to examine and clarify them.

Taking action to detect and deal with bias will help you keep your problem-solving process as objective as possible.

Bias occurs when people allow mental or emotional factors to distort their perceptions. It's the source of most mind traps that prevent effective problem solving. Cognitive bias is caused by faulty information-processing methods, and includes bias that arises through framing, anchoring, the relative availability of different types of information, and overconfidence. Motivational bias arises from people's needs and goals, and includes self-enhancement, need for closure, cooperation, and accountability bias. To guard against bias in problem solving, you should identify the types of bias common to each problem-solving stage, redesign your problem-solving approach if necessary, watch for evidence of bias throughout your problem-solving process, and counter bias as soon as it arises.