Unveiling ‘Choice Blindness’: When Our Decisions and Outcomes Don’t Match
Decision-making is a fundamental part of our daily lives. From choosing what to eat for breakfast to deciding which route to take to work, we are constantly making decisions. Theories of decision-making often assume that we are able to detect when our intended decision doesn’t match the actual outcome, and that we adjust our behavior accordingly. But is this always the case? A concept known as ‘choice blindness’ suggests otherwise.
‘Choice blindness’ is a term used to describe a situation where we fail to notice a mismatch between our intended decision and the actual outcome. In other words, we might think we’ve made one decision, but the outcome is different, and we don’t even realize it.
To explore this concept, researchers conducted a study where participants were asked to make choices based on attractiveness between pairs of faces presented to them. However, the researchers secretly manipulated the relationship between the participants’ choices and the outcomes they experienced.
Here’s where it gets interesting: the participants didn’t notice when the face they ended up with wasn’t the one they had initially chosen. Even more intriguing, when asked why they chose a particular face, they provided introspective reasons, despite the fact that their choice had been manipulated.
This phenomenon, where people fail to recognize that their intended choice doesn’t match the outcome, is what the researchers call ‘choice blindness’. It’s as if there’s a blind spot in our decision-making process where we fail to see the discrepancy between our intentions and the actual results.
This study challenges the common assumption that we always detect and correct mismatches between our intentions and outcomes. It suggests that our introspective understanding of our choices might not be as reliable as we think. We might believe we’re making decisions based on certain reasons, but ‘choice blindness’ shows that we can be oblivious to discrepancies between our intentions and the actual outcomes.
The concept of ‘choice blindness’ has significant implications. It raises questions about the reliability of self-reported data in research, as people may not accurately remember or understand their own choices. It also has potential implications for our understanding of consumer behavior, as it suggests that people may not always be aware of why they prefer certain products or services.
In conclusion, ‘choice blindness’ reveals a fascinating aspect of our decision-making process: we may not be as aware of our choices and their outcomes as we think we are. This highlights the complexity of human decision-making and suggests that we still have much to learn about how we make choices.
This study highlights just one of the complexities of being a human, and plan-human symbiosis.
https://medium.com/@beyond-belief/biohacking-mental-health-with-plants-and-mushrooms-plant-human-symbiosis-488e9223e22e
https://medium.com/@beyond-belief/developmental-biology-and-plant-human-symbiosis-d3b9a408dfd2
