Information bias
Information bias is the tendency to seek more information even when it will not change a decision. More information isn’t always better; with less information, people can often predict more accurately.
THE IDEA
Information bias
Information bias is the tendency to seek more information even when it will not change a decision. More information isn’t always better. Indeed, with less information, people can often predict more accurately. In one study, people who knew basketball team names as well as their performance records made less accurate predictions about the outcome of NBA games than people who knew only the performance records of teams. Most people, however, believed that knowing team names was helpful in making their predictions. 29
When to use it
A manager gathering excessive market research before launching a product, delaying time-sensitive decisions.
An investor analyzing too many stock indicators and making worse trades than if they used a simple heuristic.
A student over-researching for an essay, including irrelevant facts that weaken the main argument.
A doctor ordering unnecessary diagnostic tests 'just to be safe,' which may lead to false positives and patient anxiety.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
NBA Game Predictions
Participants who knew basketball team names and their performance records made less accurate predictions about NBA game outcomes than those who only knew the performance records. Despite this, most believed the additional information (team names) was helpful.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
When have you sought additional information that turned out to be unnecessary or even misleading?
How can you distinguish between information that genuinely improves a decision and information that merely feels reassuring?
Can you design a simple experiment (like the NBA study) to test whether more information actually improves predictions in your area?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- 60 Cognitive Biases That Ruin Everything We Do by David Scott