Watch Out For These Cognitive Biases When Working From Home
As the third month of lockdown approaches, the novelty of working from home has undoubtedly worn off as we’ve adjusted to this new way of working. Whether it is really the “new normal” or not, the reality is that many individuals have transitioned to remote work. Working from home comes with its own set of distractions, but it can also impact our decision making. Two biases in particular — the spotlight effect and distance bias — are prominent in remote work.
The spotlight effect: Why we feel more noticeable than we actually are
The spotlight effect describes our tendency to overestimate the extent to which people notice us.1,2
We have flawed predictions about how others view us, especially those who we see regularly. Research demonstrates that individuals perceive changes in their appearance — a good hair day versus a bad hair day, for example — to be more prominent than they necessarily are. In reality, these changes tend to go relatively unnoticed.1 Even glaringly obvious changes aren’t as apparent to others as we may think. The spotlight effect can help explain why we may feel continually noticed despite this.
Given the changes in business communication over the past few months, it is no surprise that the spotlight effect is relevant to workers today. With the switch to video communication, we are more aware of our appearance, and increasingly feel watched.
Video conferencing in particular may worsen the spotlight effect. Approximately half of all adults are more self-conscious on camera than in real life, with some research suggesting that participants spend over half of a video meeting looking in the camera at their appearance.3 The spotlight effect contributes to what’s known as “zoom fatigue” — the feeling of exhaustion that video conferencing gives us.
To further complicate things, some essential attributes of visual communication are missing in video-conferencing. The removal of instant non-verbal cues, such as body language, causes taxing mental exhaustion.5,6 Aspects like intense-staring, silence, or delays in response can lead to negative perceptions of others.7,8 As much as we try to use video conferencing to simulate in-person communication, we can’t quite duplicate the aspects that matter the most. Video calls may actually do more harm than good compared to phone conversations. The spotlight effect can be a significant cause of stress and anxiety for individuals and worsens task performance and goal pursuits.4 Overcoming it is no easy task, as even those who are aware of it still don’t correctly gauge how others perceive themselves.1
References
- Gilovich, Thomas, Justin Kruger, and Victoria Husted Medvec. “The spotlight effect revisited: Overestimating the manifest variability of our actions and appearance.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 38, no. 1 (2002): 93-99
- “The Spotlight Effect: How to Stop Feeling Self-Conscious – Effectiviology.” n.d. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://effectiviology.com/spotlight-effect-stop-being-self-conscious/.
- Takacs, Katie. n.d. “How Vanity Affects Video Communication | Highfive.” Accessed May 25, 2020. https://highfive.com/blog/how-vanity-affects-video-communication.
- Macrae, C. Neil, Jason P. Mitchell, Diana L. McNamara, Marius Golubickis, Konstantina Andreou, Sarah Møller, Katrin Peytcheva, Johanna K. Falben, and Brittany M. Christian. “Noticing future me: Reducing egocentrism through mental imagery.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 42, no. 7 (2016): 855-863.
- Skylar, Julia. 2020. “‘Zoom Fatigue’ Is Taxing the Brain. Here’s Why That Happens.” Science. April 24, 2020. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens/.
- Fosslien, Liz, and Mollie West Duffy. 2020. “How to Combat Zoom Fatigue.” Harvard Business Review, April 29, 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-combat-zoom-fatigue.
- Schoenenberg, Katrin, Alexander Raake, and Judith Koeppe. “Why are you so slow?–Misattribution of transmission delay to attributes of the conversation partner at the far-end.” International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 72, no. 5 (2014): 477-487.
- InnerDrive. n.d. “Are You Experiencing Zoom Fatigue? Here’s Why.” Accessed May 24, 2020. https://blog.innerdrive.co.uk/zoom-fatigue.
- Giesbers, Bas, Bart Rienties, Wim H. Gijselaers, Mien Segers, and Dirk T. Tempelaar. “Social presence, Web videoconferencing and learning in virtual teams.” Industry and Higher Education 23, no. 4 (2009): 301-309.
- “6 Benefits of Online Video Conferencing.” 2015. Vita Enterprise Solutions. August 21, 2015. https://vitaenterprisesolutions.com.au/new-ideas/articles/6-benefits-online-video-conferencing.
- Jones, Beth, Khalil Smith, and David Rock. 2018. “3 Biases That Hijack Performance Reviews, and How to Address Them.” Harvard Business Review, June 20, 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/06/3-biases-that-hijack-performance-reviews-and-how-to-address-them.
- Chen, En Te, and Yunieta Anny Nainggolan. 2018. “Distance Bias of Socially Responsible Investment.” Social Responsibility Journal 14 (1): 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-02-2017-0021.
- “How to Tackle ‘distance Bias’ When Working from Home | WSP.” n.d. Accessed May 25, 2020. https://www.wsp.com/en-GB/insights/how-to-tackle-distance-bias-when-working-from-home.
- Corliss, Rebecca, and Rebecca Corliss. 2019. “How Proximity Bias Holds Employees (and Workplaces) Back.” Fast Company. October 29, 2019. https://www.fastcompany.com/90423310/how-proximity-bias-holds-employees-and-workplaces-back
About the Author
Kaylee Somerville
Kaylee is a research and teaching assistant at the University of Calgary in the areas of finance, entrepreneurship, and workplace harassment. Holding international experience in events, marketing, and consulting, Kaylee hopes to use behavioral research to help individuals at work. She is particularly interested in the topics of gender, leadership, and productivity. Kaylee completed her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.
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