6 Examples Of Authority Bias

It starts when we're children trying to please our parents and win them over. This need to please those around us runs through school when we try to impress our teachers and then in careers when we go to great lengths to satisfy our employers.

This doesn't only apply to people who like to please others, rather, it applies to everyone. Probably because this satisfaction defines the fine line between success and failure. If your employer thinks you're good for nothing, you probably won't rise in positions, and you may not have a letter of recommendation in your hands when you resign.

Most of us don't realize how this desire to please people in positions of authority can affect our rational judgment when it's time to decide. This fallacy is called "Authority Bias", and it's essential to understand it, as it can influence decision-making.

Just like other cognitive biases, authority bias is a shortcut people take to make decisions, which often clouds rational thinking. This article will look at six examples of authority bias and how this cognitive tendency can influence your decisions.

Authority Bias

Authority bias refers to our tendency to follow the instructions of an authority figure without questioning their goals or methods. This makes sense because we learn from a tender age to follow orders and accept decisions made by people with authority.

However, this results in a powerful sense of compliance with authority, whether represented by an employer, executive director, or a highly respected expert of some sort. Authority bias stems from social norms, meaning that people often automatically accept the opinions of authorities rather than thinking about themselves.

In the past, following a leader who made all decisions was advantageous to people, as knowledge and information were limited, and it was in people's interest to follow those with more knowledge. But in today's advanced world, everyone has access to information and formal education to help them make decisions for themselves. So, blindly accepting what the authorities say no longer makes sense, and you need to use your reasoning to guide your behavior and decisions.

The authority bias cannot be fully understood without reference to the famous Milgram Obedience Experiment, a study by Stanley Milgram, a psychology professor at Yale University in 1961, on authority bias. He examined people's tendency to obey authority orders even if they felt there was something wrong with them and even if there was no penalty for disobeying them. The scholar focused on the inner conflict between a person's conscience and their tendency to obey authority.

In his experiment, a participant was asked to direct painful electric shocks to another person, and many of them (about 65%) complied even after expressing their desire to stop because they felt pressure from the experiment leader, who told them that the study would go down the drain if they didn't follow the rules.

Milgram's experience provides a clear example of the potential effects of authority bias, but this phenomenon can play a role in your everyday decision-making. Just like other cognitive biases, such as Confirmation bias, authority bias is a phenomenon that we underestimate despite our brains being vulnerable to it.

Cognitive behavioral research has shown that two interconnected brain systems are responsible for our decisions. The first controls unconscious and spontaneous thinking processes. The second controls our conscious thoughts and functions that require thinking and leveraging our motives and experiences. Most of our decisions are made at the level of the first system.

Perception and decision-making may be further compromised by external factors such as social or organizational pressure, choppy conditions, workload, stress, and other complications, but you'll be less likely to be affected by this cognitive bias if you're aware of it.

So remember that authority figures can make bad decisions like everyone else, and in these cases, if you follow their wrong decisions without questioning them, you may get poor results.

6 Examples of authority bias that may influence your decisions

1. In education

Many of the things you may have learned at school are not true, as there are many things teachers simplify and teach to children at school that are actually wrong. While this inaccurate information may not lead you to make any harmful decisions, it's an example of how we're trained at a tender age to accept information provided by the authorities as true blindly. You won't be able to question what the authorities say later until you question the information they told you was true in childhood.

2. In advertising

From toothpaste ads to cigarette campaigns, companies trying to sell a product often use an influential figure to give consumers a recommendation from someone they think is reliable.

For example, Intel featured Sheldon Cooper, an actor from The Big Bang Theory, which effectively sold its products because Sheldon was a brilliant physicist. Hence, people thought he was a computer expert.

If you think logically, Sheldon is a fictional character. Still, Jim Parsons, who played the role, is just an actor. Advertising agencies know that most people won't think how stupid it is to follow this recommendation because they're victims of an automatic reaction to authority bias.

3. In medicine

How often have the doctor prescribed you medication, and you took it just as instructed?  Most likely, you won't search for every prescribed drug to make sure it's the best choice because you trust your doctor as a reference to follow their instructions.

Following the advice of an expert in the field is a valuable shortcut and is usually good and saves us time. Still, it may become a concern once accepting the authority's decision becomes an automatic response.

Most people have certainly had issues after taking the wrong medication, agreeing to unnecessary medical procedures, or being misdiagnosed. Therefore, getting a second opinion can be very helpful.

4. In business

Authority bias in business is highlighted in the phenomenon of the "highest paid person's opinion." This means that decisions in business are often based on the opinion of a senior employee, to which people of lower levels often comply. In other words, we often overlook the details of some issues to agree with the opinion of the most important person concerned.

Studies have found that projects supervised by junior managers have higher success rates than those supervised by seniors. This might be because team members are more comfortable objecting and providing feedback on projects led by leaders closer to their professional level.

These views they share improve the end result, while when working with senior managers, junior staff often avoid voicing their valuable views, and there's no intellectual cooperation on the project.

5. In politics

Observe the results when celebrities run for political office, i.e., actors, athletes, or celebrity stars. While the experience of these people who are looked up to by many may be shallow or non-existent in politics, they often win when they run. People view these figures as successful in their lives; thus, they will be successful in their new position as well.

This also happens when celebrities endorse a particular candidate. You often see celebrities in political advertising campaigns, many use their popularity to speak out about a candidate or an issue they support. They use their influence to try to persuade citizens to think or vote in a particular way or defend specific issues.

6. In your life

Do you consider the pros and cons of your employer's instructions? What  if they make the wrong decision, but no one says anything about it? If  your employer is a good leader, they'll remind your team not to follow their instructions literally and will encourage you to offer you input and ask questions. Therefore, the team should clearly understand the leader's motives and intentions and object when necessary.

Speaking of intentions, this also applies to areas of your life full of doubt. Checking the expert advice is important, especially when the result directly affects you. With the presence of many authoritarian leaders, this way of thinking will not become commonplace yet, but thinking about your daily decisions this way can be an advantage for you.

How to avoid authority bias?

When you follow instructions, consider whether or not you're doing the right thing. If not, object because you may prevent a disaster. Don't assume that what the employer thinks is better than your ideas. Leaders are there to ensure that groups can work together to reach a common goal, not to dictate how they work all the time.

When decisions have a significant impact, ask questions or get another opinion. When the employer asks you to do a pointless task, tell them it'll waste valuable time and suggest another way, or when your money manager advises you to buy a particular share, ask them why. If they are confident that their request is correct, they'll have facts to support them, and these additional facts can help you make a better decision.

In Summary

Not everyone with authority always makes the right choice, and sometimes the vanity of some leaders can lead to poor results, while others expect their team to speak when they spot an issue. Either way, people may refrain from voicing their opinions because they assume they cannot oppose authority.

In short, dwell on your decisions before taking any action, and if you have a proper insight, share it. Hopefully, these examples of authority bias have helped you understand how this cognitive bias works so that you can avoid it in the future.