Week 3.5

Sep 25, 20261 min

Motivational biases: biases that arise from our (often irrational) motivations as human beings - to see ourselves as fairer, kinder, more competent, more generous, more deserving, and more likely to succeed than others.

Motivational biases can cause us to make suboptimal judgements and decisions.

Conflicting motivations

Classic example: In The Odyssey, Ulysses wants to listen to the song of the sirens but knows that he should stay alive.

To reconcile should with want, Ulysses ties himself to a pole when they pass by the Sirens.

  • ๐Ÿ’ก It is critical for negotiators to anticipate and resolve the conflict between what they want to do vs. what they thing they should do in advance of an actual negotiation (128).

Egocentricism

Overconfidence, irrational optimism, and the illusion of superiority

Self-serving attributions

Regret aversion

Toward de-biasing