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Publications
Publications
  • 2021
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

G.I. Joe Phenomena: Understanding the Limits of Metacognitive Awareness on Debiasing

By: Ariella S. Kristal and Laurie R. Santos
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:54
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Abstract

Knowing about one’s biases does not always allow one to overcome those biases— a phenomenon referred to as the G. I. Joe fallacy. We explore why knowing about a bias doesn’t necessarily change biased behavior. We argue that seemingly disparate G. I. Joe phenomenon biases fall into two main categories based on their cognitive architecture. Some biases are encapsulated— knowledge cannot affect a bias because the representations or emotions that give rise to the bias are informationally encapsulated. Encapsulated biases are the hardest to overcome since they are cognitively impenetrable by their very nature. In contrast, attentional biases are cognitively penetrable enough to be overcome through awareness, yet people still fall prey to such biases under conditions of distraction or limited attention during the moment of decision-making. We conclude by discussing the important implications these two discrete categories have for overcoming these biases and for debiasing efforts generally.

Keywords

Biases; Judgment; Decision-making; Nudge; Debiasing; Illusions; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Behavior; Change

Citation

Kristal, Ariella S., and Laurie R. Santos. "G.I. Joe Phenomena: Understanding the Limits of Metacognitive Awareness on Debiasing." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-084, January 2021.
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  • A 680,000-Person Megastudy of Nudges to Encourage Vaccination in Pharmacies By: Katherine L. Milkman, Linnea Gandhi, Mitesh S. Patel, Heather N. Graci, Dena M. Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Jake Rothschild, Jonathan E. Bogard, Ilana Brody, Christopher F. Chabris, Edward Chang, Gretchen B. Chapman, Jennifer E. Dannals, Noah J. Goldstein, Amir Goren, Hal Hershfield, Alex Hirsch, Jillian Hmurovic, Samantha Horn, Dean Karlan, Ariella S. Kristal, Cait Lamberton, Michael N. Meyer, Allison H. Oakes, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Maheen Shermohammed, Jaochim H. Talloen, Caleb Warren, Ashley Whillans, Kuldeep N. Yadav, Julian J. Zlatev, Ron Berman, Chalanda N. Evans, Rahul Ladhania, Jens Ludwig, Nina Mazar, Sendhil Mullainathan, Christopher K. Snider, Jann Spiess, Eli Tsukayama, Lyle Ungar, Christophe Van den Bulte, Kevin G. Volpp and Angela L. Duckworth
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