A new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology led by Richard West at James Madison University and Keith Stanovich at the University of Toronto suggests that, in many instances, smarter people are more vulnerable to certain kinds of thinking errors.
Although we assume that intelligence is a buffer against bias - that's why those with higher SAT scores think they are less prone to these universal thinking mistakes - it can actually be a subtle curse. To understand how these biases correlated with human intelligence, the researchers interspersed their tests of bias with various cognitive measurements, including the SAT and the Need for Cognition Scale, which measures "the tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking."
The results were quite disturbing. For one thing, self-awareness was not particularly useful: as the scientists note, "people who were aware of their own biases were not better able to overcome them." Although the bias blind spot itself isn't a new concept, West's latest paper demonstrates that it applies to every single bias under consideration, from anchoring to so-called "framing effects." In each instance, we readily forgive our own minds but look harshly upon the minds of other people.
Read more in the New Yorker.
Although we assume that intelligence is a buffer against bias - that's why those with higher SAT scores think they are less prone to these universal thinking mistakes - it can actually be a subtle curse. To understand how these biases correlated with human intelligence, the researchers interspersed their tests of bias with various cognitive measurements, including the SAT and the Need for Cognition Scale, which measures "the tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking."
The results were quite disturbing. For one thing, self-awareness was not particularly useful: as the scientists note, "people who were aware of their own biases were not better able to overcome them." Although the bias blind spot itself isn't a new concept, West's latest paper demonstrates that it applies to every single bias under consideration, from anchoring to so-called "framing effects." In each instance, we readily forgive our own minds but look harshly upon the minds of other people.
Read more in the New Yorker.
