Illusion of Asymmetric Insight
We believe we understand others better than they understand us.
The illusion of asymmetric insight is a cognitive bias whereby people perceive their knowledge of their peers to surpass their peers' knowledge of them. People's conviction that they understand others better than others understand them causes them to see their own social group as more complex and variable than out-groups.
What it looks like in the wild.
- Everyday life Political Empathy Failure Political partisans confidently explain the other side's motivations (dismissing them as simple or selfish) while feeling their own motivations are complex and nuanced.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
During a team meeting, Priya disagrees with a coworker's proposal. She silently thinks, 'He doesn't see the flaws in his plan, but I understand his reasoning better than he does.' She feels she has a clearer view of his thought process.
When a coworker gets a promotion, Raj thinks, 'He just played office politics, he doesn't see that his actual work quality is average.' Raj feels he has a more accurate assessment of his coworker's abilities.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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