Essay On Expectancy Biases

In reviewing the first module’s materials, the section on biases in professional position struck me the most. I comprehend biases as predetermined dispositions to act or think in a certain way as to reflect your own personal opinion. The three biases that were defined to us are emotional, confirmation, and expectancy biases. Emotional biases are biases that are heavily influenced by one’s own wishes or feelings. Confirmation biases occur when one’s own ideals or predictions appear true. Expectancy biases exist to support a conventional expectation of what ‘should’ occur. Of all these biases, the expectancy bias rings most impactful in my mind. Expectancy biases appear to me as an oxymoron. If one expects something anyway, why take a position on it? This concept opened up an entirely new universe for me to consider. Since expectancy biases stand as an entire realm of themselves, this supports the notion that humans, as a species, are creatures that resist external change. This claim is also evident in scenarios such as a child’s resistance in moving homes, bitterness when a new politician takes office, rejection when a parent marries a new spouse, or my very own acute anxiety in heading off to Eau Claire in the fall. In resisting adjustments in life, humans limit their potential for greater success and betterment. This same concept can be directly applied to expectancy biases as a whole. If you brush off a finding or new idea because it …show more content…
Never before had I even considered such a thing existing because, as stated, it’s all brushed under a rug called “Human Nature”. After the succinct yet comprehensive lecture on it, I find myself pondering endless ways that this practice could cause harm. In the future, I myself will also have to refrain from veering toward what ‘should’ happen in my mind, in order to reach new heights that I may not otherwise be able to reach with the burdensome weight of presumption on my