Every day, you make hundreds of decisions—some big, like choosing a career path, others as small as picking what to eat for lunch. You might think you’re calling the shots logically, carefully weighing pros and cons. But the truth? Your brain is playing tricks on you.
Hidden beneath your awareness are cognitive biases—mental shortcuts that help you make quick decisions but often lead you astray. They’re efficient, yes—but not always accurate. From boardroom meetings to dinner dates, these biases subtly steer your thinking, often without you even realising it.
Here are seven of the most common ones quietly influencing your choices—at work, in love, and even in the snack aisle.
Anchoring bias
Imagine walking into a store and seeing a jacket tagged at ₹10,000—then slashed to ₹5,000. Feels like a steal, right? That’s not always because of the value—it’s the anchor at work. Your brain clings to the first number it sees and compares everything else to it, even if that original number was inflated.
Real-life trap: You negotiate a salary, but the starting offer sets the tone. That “anchor” shapes your entire expectation—even if it’s lower than you deserve.
Sunk cost fallacy
Ever sat through a terrible movie just because you already paid for the ticket? That’s the sunk cost fallacy—the tendency to continue with something simply because we’ve already invested time, money, or effort.
Why it matters: This bias keeps people in unfulfilling jobs, failing projects, and bad relationships. The smarter move? Cut your losses and move on.
Dr. Shilpi Saraswat, Clinical Psychologist at Sakra World Hospital Bengaluru, explains that “Cognitive bias is a thinking error that affects our decisions and beliefs. Common types include: anchoring bias—relying too much on initial information; sunk cost fallacy—continuing due to past investment; Dunning-Kruger effect—overestimating or underestimating abilities; attribution bias—crediting success to self, blaming failure on others; availability heuristic—basing decisions on readily available information; and endowment effect—overvaluing owned items and resisting letting go.”
Dunning-kruger effect
The less some people know, the more confident they seem. That’s not arrogance—it’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Without enough knowledge, they don’t even realise how much they don’t know. Meanwhile, the truly skilled tend to underestimate themselves.
Sound familiar? Think of someone loudly spouting “facts” at a dinner party—versus the quiet expert in the corner shaking their head.
Framing effect
Would you sign up for a service with a 90% customer satisfaction rate or one with a 10% dissatisfaction rate? Most people pick the first—even though they’re identical. That’s the framing effect: the way information is presented can shift our perception entirely.
Lesson: Watch out for spin—in ads, politics, and even conversations. The truth might be hiding in plain sight, just dressed differently.
Self-serving bias
Ace the test? “I’m brilliant.” Fail it? “The questions were unfair.” That’s self-serving bias, our instinct to take credit for success but shift the blame for failure.
The risk: It protects our ego but blocks personal growth. Recognising mistakes is tough—but necessary for improvement.
Avi Gupta, Audit Trainee at Ernst & Young, shares a personal reflection that resonates, “As Gen Z professionals, we’re often driven by quick instincts and a need for immediate clarity—shaped by the fast-paced content we consume. That can make us stubborn about what feels right, especially after we’ve invested time in a process. But in client-facing work, I’ve learned to shift focus back to outcomes and deliverables. The same goes for people: first impressions don’t always tell the full story. And in a world where your network is your net worth, real connections are built by moving beyond snap judgments.”
Availability heuristic
Shark attacks, plane crashes, lottery wins—they’re dramatic, memorable, and rare. But because they stick in our heads, we think they’re more common than they are. This is the availability heuristic—our tendency to base judgments on what’s easiest to recall.
Impact: We fear flying more than driving, even though cars are far riskier. Emotion wins over statistics—every time.
Endowment effect
Once we own something—even a cheap mug—it becomes more valuable in our minds. That’s the endowment effect. Suddenly, selling it feels like a loss, even if we didn’t care much about it before.
Example: You price your used phone higher than its actual market value just because it’s yours.
Neha Shah, Co-founder MentorMyBoard and experienced HR, shares, “HR professionals often carry unconscious biases—especially referral and gender biases. Referred candidates tend to be favoured, and certain roles are still stereotyped as male or female. These patterns often go unchecked, influencing hiring decisions. To reduce such biases, blind recruitment practices—like anonymised resumes and skill-based assessments—are being adopted. They shift the focus to merit and skills, rather than personal demographics, promoting a more equitable and objective hiring process.”
Mind the bias
These mental quirks aren’t flaws—they’re human nature. But when left unchecked, they can cloud judgment, fuel conflict, and lead us astray. The good news? Awareness is power. By spotting these biases in ourselves (and others), we take a small but mighty step toward better decisions.
Next time you find yourself defending a bad choice or feeling oddly attached to that old T-shirt you never wear—pause. Your brain might just be playing tricks on you.
