Strategy

20 cognitive biases that screw up your decisions

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You make thousands of rational decisions every day — or so you think.

From what you'll eat throughout the day to whether you should make a big career move, research suggests that there are a number of cognitive stumbling blocks that affect your behavior, and they can prevent you from acting in your own best interests.

Here, we've rounded up the most common biases that screw up our decision-making.

BI_graphics_20 cognitive biases that screw up your decisions
Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Gus Lubin and Drake Baer contributed to this article.

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Samantha is the Senior Graphics Editor for Business Insider. She graduated from Baruch College with a BBA in Computer Information Systems and Graphic Communications. See more BI work here. Feel free to creep her portfolio.
Shana was a correspondent for Insider, where she covered career development and workplace culture.In 2022, she published "Don't Call It Quits" to help professionals who feel stuck in their careers find greater happiness at work.Shana spearheads the HR Insider series, for which she's interviewed talent chiefs at Microsoft and Goldman Sachs, shared tips from an ex-Googler on knowing when to change jobs, and demystified the hiring process at Salesforce. She regularly publishes news analysis; past topics have included burnout among US workers, gender and racial dynamics within HR, and the hybrid workplace.She has moderated programs at Chief and the Harvard Business School Club of New York and has appeared on Cheddar and Bold TV.Before beginning her career in journalism, Shana studied English and psychology at Brandeis University and received her master's degree in English literature from Columbia University.