The anchoring effect is a cognitive bias in which a person's later judgments or numeric estimates are pulled toward an initial reference point, or anchor, that they were exposed to, even when that anchor is arbitrary or irrelevant to the actual decision. Once an anchor is set, subsequent estimates tend to be adjusted from it, but the adjustment is usually insufficient, leaving the final judgment biased toward the anchor. The psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman gave the effect its classic experimental demonstration in 1974, as part of their broader research program on judgment heuristics and biases.
Facts
Core ClaimAn initial number or reference point, even an arbitrary one, measurably pulls a person's subsequent estimates toward itself. 1 First Described Year Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Gave the effect its classic 1974 experimental demonstration with Kahneman.
Gave the effect its classic 1974 experimental demonstration with Tversky.
In Branch
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Anchoring Effect
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
The anchoring effect is a psychological phenomenon in which an individual's judgments or decisions are influenced by a reference point or "anchor" which can be completely irrelevant.
1. Wikipedia: Anchoring Effect
Wikimedia FoundationExperimental findings section
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