Real-world examples of cognitive biases
Mon Feb 02 2026
Most of us are completely oblivious to the cognitive biases that dictate how we live our lives.
Today, with Tom Bowden-Green and Luan Wise, we cover seven cognitive biases that all of us fall for.
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Today’s sources:
Chambers, J. R. (2008). Explaining false uniqueness: Why we are both better and worse than others. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(2), 878–894.
Dunning, D. (2011). The Dunning–Kruger effect: On being ignorant of one’s own ignorance. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 44, pp. 247–296). Academic Press.
Einhorn, H. J., & Hogarth, R. M. (1978). Confidence in judgment: Persistence of the illusion of validity. Psychological Review, 85(5), 395–416.
Helmreich, R., Aronson, E., & LeFan, J. (1970). To err is humanizing sometimes: Effects of self-esteem, competence, and a pratfall on interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(2), 259–264.
Koskie, M. M., & Locander, W. B. (2023). Cool brands and hot attachments: Their effect on consumers’ willingness to pay more. European Journal of Marketing, 57(4), 905–929.
Pronin, E., Lin, D. Y., & Ross, L. (2002). The bias blind spot: Perceptions of bias in self versus others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(3), 369–381.
Van Hoorens, V. (1993). Self-enhancement and superiority biases in social comparison. European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 113–139.
White, G. L., Fishbein, M., & Rutstein, R. C. (1981). Passionate love and the misattribution of arousal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(1), 56–62.
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Most of us are completely oblivious to the cognitive biases that dictate how we live our lives. Today, with Tom Bowden-Green and Luan Wise, we cover seven cognitive biases that all of us fall for. --- Tom and Luan’s book: https://amzn.to/49aZnh3 Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults See Agent Spark in action at gwi.com/spark Join 10,428 readers of my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- Today’s sources: Chambers, J. R. (2008). Explaining false uniqueness: Why we are both better and worse than others. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(2), 878–894. Dunning, D. (2011). The Dunning–Kruger effect: On being ignorant of one’s own ignorance. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 44, pp. 247–296). Academic Press. Einhorn, H. J., & Hogarth, R. M. (1978). Confidence in judgment: Persistence of the illusion of validity. Psychological Review, 85(5), 395–416. Helmreich, R., Aronson, E., & LeFan, J. (1970). To err is humanizing sometimes: Effects of self-esteem, competence, and a pratfall on interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(2), 259–264. Koskie, M. M., & Locander, W. B. (2023). Cool brands and hot attachments: Their effect on consumers’ willingness to pay more. European Journal of Marketing, 57(4), 905–929. Pronin, E., Lin, D. Y., & Ross, L. (2002). The bias blind spot: Perceptions of bias in self versus others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(3), 369–381. Van Hoorens, V. (1993). Self-enhancement and superiority biases in social comparison. European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 113–139. White, G. L., Fishbein, M., & Rutstein, R. C. (1981). Passionate love and the misattribution of arousal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(1), 56–62.