Cognitive Bias and The Office

Arianna Alexander

Psychology Basis

Cognitive Bias- A Cognitive Bias is

when a person’s thinking is flawed because it is based on how the person interprets information. The decisions made have errors and varies based off personal beliefs.

- A Bias is a prejudice towards a specific idea based off personal opinion.

Cognitive BiasConsequences:

-Due to limiting your perspective, you sometimes can be biased, or swayed, to only see one part of a situation.

-Many times people will talk themselves into a decision being the right one, after they’ve already made a decision.

-Cognitive bias is sometimes used as a way of coping with decisions you feel you don’t have control over.

MEDIA

The Office-The Office is a TV- show which focuses on the daily lives of the office workers at Dunder Mifflin, a paper supply company in Scranton, PA. The main character of the show is Michael Scott.

The Office-This is Michael Scott.

-He is the branch manager at Dunder Mifflin.

-Michael is a bit dim-witted at times but has good intentions.

The Office-This is Carol.

-She is Michael Scott’s realtor.

-She is not dim-witted.

The Office

This is Dwight. He is the Assistant to the Regional Manager. Dwight idolizes Michael Scott and is somewhat delusional.

CONNECTION

Connection-In this episode of the Office, Michael Scott is wanting to buy a condo.

-Carol tells him that he will have a fixed mortgage and he starts to second guess his decision to buy the condo.

-Michael Scott threatens to back out of the deal and the realtor tells him he will lose seven thousand dollars if he backs out of the contract now.

CAROL,The Realtor

MICHAEL SCOTT

Connection-Michael Scott then goes onto agreeing to sign the lease.

-He tells Dwight that he made the right decision.

Connection/Validity- After weighing the limited options, Michael decides to go through with buying the condo. Afterwards, he reassures himself and his decision by focusing only on the positive aspects of his decision.

-Michael’s quote:

“I made the right decision. I’m glad I signed. I’m a homeowner. It’s good to be a homeowner. Diversifying. This is good. This is fun.“

Connection/Validity-The cognitive bias in this clip is that Michael is limiting his perspective to only positive attributes AFTER he’s already made the decision.

Connection/Validity-According to Psychology Today, people end up believing what they want to believe, whether or not their beliefs are supported by facts.

-People believe what is closest to what they WANT or DESIRE to happen/see things as.

Michael believes he is the “world’s best boss”.

My PerspectiveI do think that many times when faced with difficult decisions, people like to reassure themselves that they made the right decision. I do believe that cognitive bias’ help us to cope with situations where we have limited control and that we want to feel like we are right. This clip from the Office is a good example of how we reassure ourselves that we made the right decision and a valid example of a cognitive bias.

Works Cited-Cherry, Kendra. "How Cognitive Biases Influence How We Think and Act." Verywell. N.p., 9 May 2016. https://www.verywell.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

-Markma, Art, Ph.D. "You End Up Believing What You Want to Believe." Psychology Today. N.p., 1 July 2011. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201107/you-end-believing-what-you-want-believe. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

-GOOGLE IMAGES FOR “THE OFFICE” PHOTOS