Anchoring

Behavioural skills - cognitive bias.

The anchoring effect, or anchoring bias, is a tendency in decision-making to place excessive importance on the first piece of information accessed.

This initial piece of information is known as the anchor.

A common example is the first figure mentioned in a price negotiation.

The reasonableness, or acceptability, of subsequent figures tends - wrongly - to be evaluated by reference to the earlier figure, rather than by objective criteria.

See also

• Affinity bias
• Bandwagon bias
• Behavioural economics
• Behavioural skills
• Choice supporting bias
• Cognitive bias
• Confirmation bias
• Default bias
• Diversity
• Dunning-Kruger effect
• Emotional intelligence
• Executive coaching
• Hindsight bias
• Impostor syndrome
• Maslow's hammer
• Objectivity
• Optimism bias
• Reactance bias
• Self-investment bias
• Self-serving bias
• Social bias
• Source bias
• Status quo bias
• Working effectively with others