Projects per year
Abstract
When individuals display cognitive biases, they are prone to developing systematically false beliefs. Evolutionary psychologists have argued that rather than being a flaw in human cognition, biases may actually be design features. In my paper, I assess the claim that unrealistic optimism is such a design feature because it is a form of error management. Proponents of this theory say that when individuals make decisions under uncertainty, it can be advantageous to err on the side of overconfidence if the potential gains through success are high and the costs of failure are low. I argue that there are a number of conceptual problems in matching the theory with the existing data. I also show that there is empirical evidence against the error management hypothesis.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1159-1175 |
Journal | Philosophical Psychology |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 8 |
Early online date | 31 Aug 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 31 Aug 2017 |
Keywords
- Unrealistic Optimism
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Error Management Theory
- Cognitive Bias
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Dive into the research topics of 'Born to be biased? Unrealistic Optimism and Error Management Theory'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship - Dr Anneli Jefferson: Mental Disorders, Brain Disorders and Moral Responsibility
Jefferson, A. (Principal Investigator) & Effingham, N. (Co-Investigator)
1/05/16 → 30/04/19
Project: Research
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Hope and Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Investigations
Bortolotti, L. (Principal Investigator)
1/09/15 → 31/08/16
Project: Research