Imagine this: You visit a particular cafe, which has various locations in different cities. They offer you very poor service and the quality of food was not up to the mark. Despite this, you give it another chance by visiting 5 more of its locations. Each time you encounter similar experiences and, thus, form the perception that all the locations of this particular cafe have poor service and food. However, the other locations might offer excellent services, but due to your bad experiences, you form a general stereotype about the entire cafe chain.
This is referred to as Illusory correlation. Illusory correlation is the tendency for people to perceive a relationship between two variables even when there is none, or to overestimate the strength of a relationship between two variables. This can lead to inaccurate beliefs and judgment as seen in the case above. Especially when stereotypes or preconceptions are involved, someone might believe that all members of a certain group (the cafe chain in this case) possess a particular characteristic (poor experience) because they recall a few instances where members of that group showed that characteristic.
Another example could be of tourists forming a negative stereotype of a particular place because they encounter a few rude and unfriendly people who discriminated against them.
This phenomenon often arises due to several cognitive biases such as selective attention and confirmation bias.
In selective attention, people tend to notice and remember information that confirms their own existing beliefs and expectations. For example, if you believe that wearing a particular object brings you good luck, then you will most likely pay more attention to instances that seem to confirm this, while ignoring instances that contradict it.
In confirmation bias, individuals selectively interpret new information in a way that confirms their preconceived notions. Once people have formed a belief or expectation, they tend to interpret new information in a way that confirms those beliefs.
Apart from this, social norms and cultural values can shape people’s perceptions and beliefs about certain groups or behaviors. These influences can contribute to the formation of illusory correlations.
This can affect our decision-making and social judgements and form incorrect stereotypes. Thus it is necessary to combat it to a certain extent. You can reduce the occurrence of illusory correlation by:
1. Critically thinking and evaluating the information you come across and questioning your own assumptions and beliefs.
2. Becoming more aware of cognitive biases like confirmation bias and selective attention. Education and training programs on these topics can help individuals become more aware of their own thought processes.
3. Engaging with people from different backgrounds and increasing inter group contacts can broaden your understanding and help challenge your assumptions and stereotypes.
4. Fostering empathy and understanding towards others and approaching situations with an open mind can help fight stereotypes. Flexibility in thinking, approaching new information with an open mind and to be willing to change your beliefs in the face of new evidence can help prevent the formation of illusory correlation.
5. Promoting a culture of diversity, inclusion and respect can create an environment where stereotypes and biases are less likely to grow.
It may not be possible to completely get rid of illusory correlation, but these strategies can help individuals become more aware of their cognitive biases and make more informed and better judgments.
Photo by Randy Jacob on Unsplash
Psyche Trail 
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