IICognitive Bias

Anchoring Bias

Your bias is Anchoring. Overweighting the first number or idea introduced.

Why This Bias Happens

The first impression becomes a mental landmark. Once set, the mind adjusts from it too little, because revision costs effort and certainty feels efficient.

Example 1

In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius urges himself to inspect impressions before consenting to them. That practice counters anchoring by refusing to treat first appearance as final truth.

Example 2

Kahneman and Tversky showed that random starting numbers influence later estimates, even when people know the anchor is arbitrary.

Further Reading

Back to list