How the Representativeness Heuristic Affects Decisions and Bias

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representativeness heuristic

Verywell / Cindy Chung

Making decisions isn't always easy, especially when we don't have all the details or the situation seems murky. When we make decisions in the face of uncertainty, we often rely on a mental shortcut known as the representativeness heuristic. It involves making judgments by comparing the current situations to concepts we already have in mind.

This shortcut can speed up the decision-making process, 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 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.

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What Is the Representativeness Heuristic?

The representativeness heuristic involves estimating the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype that already exists in our minds. This prototype is what we think is the most relevant or typical example of a particular event or object.

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 as heuristics. 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 or cognitive biases.

History of the Representativeness Heuristic

The representativeness heuristic was first described by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman during the 1970s. Like other heuristics, making judgments based on representativeness is intended to work as a type of mental shortcut, allowing us to make decisions quickly. However, it can also lead to errors.

In their classic experiment, 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.

Based on the description provided by the researchers, many participants concluded that Tom must be an engineering major. Why? Because Tom was representative of what the participants expected from an engineering student. He fit the description, so to speak.

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

Conserving our resources by using short is one part of the explanation, but the way we categorize people and objects also plays a major role.

Making decisions based on representativeness involves comparing an object or situation to the schemas or 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

When we make decisions based on representativeness, we may make more errors by overestimating the similarity of a situation. Just because an event or object is representative does not mean that what we've experienced before is likely to happen again.

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.

Stereotyped attitudes can have serious ramifications. Discrimination based on age, disability, parental status, race, color, and sex can also be influenced by stereotypes linked to the representativeness heuristic.

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-life decisions 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 in racial bias in 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 as prejudice. The prototypes people hold can become stereotypes, which leads people to make prejudiced judgments of other people.

Such stereotypes can also lead to systemic discrimination against 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:

  • Becoming more aware of this tendency: Kahneman has found that when people become aware that they are using the representativeness heuristic, they can often correct themselves and make more accurate judgments.
  • Reflecting on your judgments to check for bias: As you make decisions about people or events, spend a few moments thinking about how bias might affect your choices.
  • Applying logic to problems: As you solve problems, focus on thinking through them logically. Learning more about critical thinking skills and logical fallacies can also be helpful.
  • Asking others for feedback: It can be difficult to spot the use of representativeness in your own thinking, so it can sometimes be helpful to ask other people for feedback. Explain your thinking and ask them to check for possible biases.
10 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."