{"id":10792,"date":"2026-08-07T01:23:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T01:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/?p=10792"},"modified":"2026-08-07T02:47:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T02:47:48","slug":"what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Anchoring Bias? Definition and Examples\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Anchoring bias is the tendency to weight the first number or framing you encounter too heavily, so that it pulls every judgment that follows, even when it is arbitrary.<\/li>\n<li>Awareness is a weak defense. Judges, property appraisers, and clinicians all anchor, and they usually report that the anchor had no influence on them.<\/li>\n<li>Anchors enter research at every stage: topic framing, literature search, sample-size planning, analysis, peer review, and evidence synthesis.<\/li>\n<li>Structural safeguards outperform good intentions: record your estimate before exposure, preregister the primary analysis, mask the data, and use independent parallel analysts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Glossary_of_Key_Terms\" title=\"Glossary of Key Terms\">Glossary of Key Terms<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#What_Is_Anchoring_Bias\" title=\"What Is Anchoring Bias?\">What Is Anchoring Bias?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Origins_of_the_Anchoring_Effect\" title=\"Origins of the Anchoring Effect\">Origins of the Anchoring Effect<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Why_Does_Anchoring_Bias_Happen\" title=\"Why Does Anchoring Bias Happen?\">Why Does Anchoring Bias Happen?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Anchoring-and-adjustment\" title=\"Anchoring-and-adjustment\">Anchoring-and-adjustment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Selective_accessibility\" title=\"Selective accessibility\">Selective accessibility<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Types_of_anchors_that_affect_research_work\" title=\"Types of anchors that affect research work\">Types of anchors that affect research work<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Does_Expertise_Protect_Researchers_From_Anchoring_Bias\" title=\"Does Expertise Protect Researchers From Anchoring Bias?\">Does Expertise Protect Researchers From Anchoring Bias?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Where_Anchoring_Bias_Enters_the_Research_Lifecycle\" title=\"Where Anchoring Bias Enters the Research Lifecycle\">Where Anchoring Bias Enters the Research Lifecycle<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Examples_of_Anchoring_Bias_in_Academic_Work\" title=\"Examples of Anchoring Bias in Academic Work\">Examples of Anchoring Bias in Academic Work<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Literature_review_and_framing\" title=\"Literature review and framing\">Literature review and framing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Peer_review_and_editorial_decisions\" title=\"Peer review and editorial decisions\">Peer review and editorial decisions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Clinical_diagnosis_and_premature_closure\" title=\"Clinical diagnosis and premature closure\">Clinical diagnosis and premature closure<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#How_Does_Anchoring_Bias_Distort_Your_Data\" title=\"How Does Anchoring Bias Distort Your Data?\">How Does Anchoring Bias Distort Your Data?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Anchoring_Bias_in_AI-Assisted_Research\" title=\"Anchoring Bias in AI-Assisted Research\">Anchoring Bias in AI-Assisted Research<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Where_AI_anchors_enter_the_workflow\" title=\"Where AI anchors enter the workflow\">Where AI anchors enter the workflow<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Guardrails_for_AI-assisted_research\" title=\"Guardrails for AI-assisted research\">Guardrails for AI-assisted research<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#How_Do_You_Reduce_Anchoring_Bias_in_Practice\" title=\"How Do You Reduce Anchoring Bias in Practice?\">How Do You Reduce Anchoring Bias in Practice?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Behavioral_tactics\" title=\"Behavioral tactics\">Behavioral tactics<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Structural_safeguards\" title=\"Structural safeguards\">Structural safeguards<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#The_Replication_Evidence_for_Anchoring_Effects\" title=\"The Replication Evidence for Anchoring Effects\">The Replication Evidence for Anchoring Effects<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Anchoring_Bias_Compared_With_Related_Cognitive_Biases\" title=\"Anchoring Bias Compared With Related Cognitive Biases\">Anchoring Bias Compared With Related Cognitive Biases<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#A_Practical_Checklist_for_Research_Teams\" title=\"A Practical Checklist for Research Teams\">A Practical Checklist for Research Teams<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-24\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Frequently_Asked_Questions\" title=\"Frequently Asked Questions\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-25\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#What_is_anchoring_bias_in_simple_terms\" title=\"What is anchoring bias in simple terms?\">What is anchoring bias in simple terms?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-26\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#What_is_an_example_of_anchoring_bias_in_research\" title=\"What is an example of anchoring bias in research?\">What is an example of anchoring bias in research?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-27\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Is_anchoring_bias_the_same_as_confirmation_bias\" title=\"Is anchoring bias the same as confirmation bias?\">Is anchoring bias the same as confirmation bias?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-28\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Who_discovered_anchoring_bias\" title=\"Who discovered anchoring bias?\">Who discovered anchoring bias?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-29\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#Can_anchoring_bias_be_eliminated_completely\" title=\"Can anchoring bias be eliminated completely?\">Can anchoring bias be eliminated completely?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-30\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#How_does_anchoring_bias_affect_peer_review\" title=\"How does anchoring bias affect peer review?\">How does anchoring bias affect peer review?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-31\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#How_does_anchoring_bias_affect_AI-assisted_literature_reviews\" title=\"How does anchoring bias affect AI-assisted literature reviews?\">How does anchoring bias affect AI-assisted literature reviews?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-32\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#How_can_I_avoid_anchoring_bias_in_survey_design\" title=\"How can I avoid anchoring bias in survey design?\">How can I avoid anchoring bias in survey design?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-33\" href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples\/#References\" title=\"References\">References<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Glossary_of_Key_Terms\"><\/span>Glossary of Key Terms<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\"><strong>Term<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"417\"><strong>Meaning<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Anchor<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">The first value, estimate, or framing encountered on a question; it becomes the reference point for later judgments.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Anchoring bias<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">The systematic error that results when an anchor pulls subsequent judgments toward itself.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Anchoring effect<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">The measurable shift in an estimate caused by exposure to an anchor; the term generally used in experimental work.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Anchoring-and-adjustment<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">The account in which people start from an anchor and adjust insufficiently toward a better answer.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Selective accessibility<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">The account in which an anchor makes anchor-consistent evidence easier to retrieve from memory.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Self-generated anchor<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">A starting value the person produces themselves, such as a rough guess formed before doing the calculation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Externally provided anchor<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">A value supplied by another source, such as a reviewer score, a funder ceiling, or a prior study estimate.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Incidental anchor<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">A number present in the environment that has no bearing on the judgment, such as a model number or a date.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Primacy effect<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">The memory advantage held by information presented first in a sequence.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Premature closure<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">Settling on a diagnosis or conclusion before all relevant evidence has been considered.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Preregistration<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">Publicly recording hypotheses, measures, and analysis plans before data are collected or examined.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Blinded analysis<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">Analyzing data with group labels or key variables masked, so expected results cannot steer analytic choices.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Multi-analyst design<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">Having several independent teams analyze the same dataset to expose analytic variability.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Specification curve analysis<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">Reporting results across all defensible analytic specifications rather than a single chosen one.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"207\">Consider-the-opposite<\/td>\n<td width=\"417\">A debiasing prompt in which you deliberately generate reasons the anchor is too high, then too low.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_Anchoring_Bias\"><\/span>What Is Anchoring Bias?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Anchoring bias is the tendency to weight the first piece of information you receive too heavily, so that it becomes the reference point for every judgment that follows.<\/p>\n<p>The anchor does not have to be accurate, relevant, or even plausible. It only has to arrive first. Once it is in place, later evidence is assessed in relation to it rather than on its own terms, and adjustments away from it are typically too small.<\/p>\n<p>An anchor is usually at work when you notice any of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your final estimate sits close to the first figure you saw, despite better evidence arriving later.<\/li>\n<li>You describe new findings as high or low relative to a single earlier study rather than to the wider evidence base.<\/li>\n<li>Your analytic choices are framed as departures from an initial model rather than as options of equal standing.<\/li>\n<li>You recall the anchor more readily than the evidence that should have replaced it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Origins_of_the_Anchoring_Effect\"><\/span>Origins of the Anchoring Effect<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman described the effect in 1974 in their work on judgment under uncertainty. Their demonstrations remain the clearest illustration of how little an anchor needs in order to exert influence.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wheel of fortune study: participants watched a wheel stop on a number, then estimated the percentage of African nations in the United Nations. Higher wheel numbers produced higher estimates, although the wheel carried no information about the answer.<\/li>\n<li>Multiplication study: 2 groups had 5 seconds to estimate the product of the digits 1 to 8. The group shown the descending sequence estimated roughly 2,250; the group shown the ascending sequence estimated roughly 512. The correct answer is 40,320.<\/li>\n<li>Because the anchors carried no diagnostic value, the results established anchoring as a genuine bias rather than the sensible use of a relevant cue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Does_Anchoring_Bias_Happen\"><\/span>Why Does Anchoring Bias Happen?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Anchoring happens for 2 reasons: we adjust too little from starting values we generate ourselves, and externally supplied anchors make anchor-consistent evidence easier to bring to mind.<\/p>\n<p>The distinction is not academic. The 2 mechanisms respond to different countermeasures, which is why generic advice to slow down and reflect works in some situations and fails in others.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Anchoring-and-adjustment\"><\/span>Anchoring-and-adjustment<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When you produce the starting value yourself, you move away from it until the answer feels acceptable, and you stop early. Effort, incentives, accountability, and extra time all reduce the error here, because the adjustment is deliberate and partly under your control.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Selective_accessibility\"><\/span>Selective accessibility<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When someone else supplies the anchor, you tend to test it as a hypothesis. That test recruits anchor-consistent information from memory, which then dominates the judgment. Slowing down helps far less in this case, because retrieval has already been skewed before deliberation begins.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Types_of_anchors_that_affect_research_work\"><\/span>Types of anchors that affect research work<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\"><strong>Anchor type<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"240\"><strong>What it is<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"224\"><strong>Where it appears in research<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Self-generated<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A rough estimate you form before doing the work<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">A quick guess at an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/blog\/effect-size\/\">effect size<\/a> before running the model<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Externally provided<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A figure supplied by another person or source<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">A reviewer rating, a funder budget ceiling, a prior study estimate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Numeric<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A specific quantity attached to the judgment<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">A reported <a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/blog\/p-value-statistics-hypothesis-testing-definition-meaning\/\">p value<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/blog\/sample-size-and-statistical-power-definition-formulas-calculations-worked-examples\/\">sample size<\/a>, a citation count<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Semantic<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A framing or label rather than a number<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">A dominant theory that silently defines the <a href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/how-to-craft-a-strong-research-question-with-research-question-examples\/\">research question<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Incidental<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A number in the environment with no bearing on the judgment<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">A version number, a grant reference, a page count<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Temporal<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The first item observed in a sequence<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">The first interview transcript coded in a <a href=\"https:\/\/researcher.life\/blog\/article\/what-is-qualitative-research-methods-types-examples\/\">qualitative study<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Expertise_Protect_Researchers_From_Anchoring_Bias\"><\/span>Does Expertise Protect Researchers From Anchoring Bias?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>No. Experienced judges, professional appraisers, and practicing clinicians all show anchoring effects, and they routinely report that the anchor had no influence on their decision.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Englich, Mussweiler, and Strack (2006) asked experienced criminal judges to roll dice that were loaded to produce high or low numbers, then recommend a sentence. The sentencing recommendations followed the dice.<\/li>\n<li>Northcraft and Neale (1987) found that professional real estate appraisers valued the same property differently depending on the listing price they were shown, while stating that they had disregarded it.<\/li>\n<li>Clinicians often weight an initial impression of a patient\u2019s symptoms more heavily than information gathered later, which affects both diagnosis and treatment outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The practical implication is uncomfortable. The subjective sense of having reasoned independently carries no evidential weight, so a debiasing plan built on self-monitoring is built on very little.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_Anchoring_Bias_Enters_the_Research_Lifecycle\"><\/span>Where Anchoring Bias Enters the Research Lifecycle<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Most coverage of this topic stops at the definition. The more useful question for a working researcher is where the anchors actually arrive, because each stage has a different entry point and a different fix.<\/p>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\"><strong>Research stage<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"240\"><strong>How the anchor enters<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"224\"><strong>Safeguard<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Topic selection<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The first few papers you read define the boundaries of the field for you<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Sample deliberately across subfields and publication dates before narrowing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Literature review<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">An early landmark study frames what counts as a relevant finding<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Record your own framing of the question before reading; search by method as well as by topic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Hypothesis formation<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The initial hypothesis becomes the default that all evidence is measured against<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Write competing hypotheses of equal specificity at the outset<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Sample-size planning<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A pilot study effect size anchors the power calculation<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Power on the smallest effect size of interest, not on the pilot estimate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Instrument design<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Prior questionnaires anchor item wording and response ranges<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Pretest alternative scale ranges and item orderings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Data collection and coding<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The earliest cases coded set the template for everything after<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Blind double coding; recode an early subset once coding is complete<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Analysis<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The first specification becomes the reference, and later models become robustness checks<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Preregister the primary specification; report a specification curve<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Interpretation<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The expected result anchors how ambiguous findings are read<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Blinded analysis; draft the discussion for both possible outcomes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Peer review<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A co-reviewer comment or the original submission anchors later judgment<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Collect reviews independently before sharing; assess revisions against the standard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Evidence synthesis<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A landmark early trial anchors effect size expectations in a meta-analysis<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Run leave-one-out analyses; test for small-study effects<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Examples_of_Anchoring_Bias_in_Academic_Work\"><\/span>Examples of Anchoring Bias in Academic Work<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The following cases are deliberately drawn from research practice rather than from shopping or salary negotiation, because the mechanism looks different when the anchor is a citation, a score, or a prior estimate.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Literature_review_and_framing\"><\/span>Literature review and framing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A doctoral student reads 3 highly cited papers in the first week and adopts their operational definition of the construct. Every later search is phrased in that vocabulary, so an adjacent literature using different terminology never surfaces. The review is thorough inside its boundary and blind outside it.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Peer_review_and_editorial_decisions\"><\/span>Peer review and editorial decisions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A reviewer opens a manuscript and reads a colleague\u2019s comments first. Those comments set the severity level for the review that follows. In revision rounds the original submission acts as the anchor: a weak paper that improved a great deal can read as stronger than a good paper that improved slightly.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Clinical_diagnosis_and_premature_closure\"><\/span>Clinical diagnosis and premature closure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A clinician who hears a provisional diagnosis before examining the patient tends to fit later findings to it. Some diagnostic protocols now require that the primary data be reviewed before any prior interpretation is disclosed, precisely in order to remove that anchor.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Does_Anchoring_Bias_Distort_Your_Data\"><\/span>How Does Anchoring Bias Distort Your Data?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Anchors do not bias only the researcher. They bias participants. Scale ranges, worked examples, question order, and opening bids all shift the responses people give you.<\/p>\n<p>This turns anchoring from a mindset problem into a design problem, and design problems have concrete solutions.<\/p>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\"><strong>Design choice<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"240\"><strong>Anchoring risk<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"224\"><strong>Mitigation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Response scale range<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A scale running 0-100 elicits different answers than one running 0-10 for the same construct<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Randomize scale ranges across subsamples and test for differences<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Worked examples in instructions<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Any number used to illustrate the task becomes an anchor<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Use nonnumeric examples, or rotate several examples across participants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Question order<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">An earlier item supplies a reference point for later items<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Counterbalance item order and report the design<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Willingness-to-pay elicitation<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The opening bid drives the final stated value, known as starting-point bias<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Use open-ended formats or randomized starting values<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Expert elicitation and Delphi panels<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Early round medians anchor the rounds that follow<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Collect initial estimates in isolation; report ranges rather than point values<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Interactive dashboards<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The default view anchors the analyst hypothesis<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Vary the default view; log the order in which views were opened<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Anchoring_Bias_in_AI-Assisted_Research\"><\/span>Anchoring Bias in AI-Assisted Research<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Generative tools compress a literature into a summary, and that summary arrives before your own reading. This is an unusually powerful anchor: it is fluent, confident, comprehensive in appearance, and it precedes any independent judgment you might have formed.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_AI_anchors_enter_the_workflow\"><\/span>Where AI anchors enter the workflow<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A model summary of a paper becomes your memory of the paper, including its emphases and its omissions.<\/li>\n<li>The first page of AI-ranked search results defines the literature you believe exists.<\/li>\n<li>Screening suggestions in systematic reviews shift inclusion decisions toward the implicit criteria of the model.<\/li>\n<li>A drafted outline anchors the structure of the argument before the evidence has been weighed.<\/li>\n<li>Prompt framing anchors the model in turn, so a leading question tends to produce a confirming answer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Guardrails_for_AI-assisted_research\"><\/span>Guardrails for AI-assisted research<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Write your own 3-sentence summary of a paper before reading any generated one, then compare the 2 versions.<\/li>\n<li>Ask the tool for the strongest case against your hypothesis, not only for supporting evidence.<\/li>\n<li>Reformulate every search at least twice using different vocabulary, including terms the model did not use.<\/li>\n<li>Verify every citation, quantity, and quotation against the source document.<\/li>\n<li>In screening workflows, have a human screen a random 10% blind to the model recommendation, then measure agreement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Do_You_Reduce_Anchoring_Bias_in_Practice\"><\/span>How Do You Reduce Anchoring Bias in Practice?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Awareness helps least. The methods with real support are structural: commit to your estimate before you meet the anchor, and build independence into the workflow.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Behavioral_tactics\"><\/span>Behavioral tactics<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider-the-opposite: list reasons the anchor is too high, then reasons it is too low, before producing your estimate. This is among the few debiasing prompts with replicated support.<\/li>\n<li>Estimate before exposure: write down and date your prediction before you see prior results, reviewer comments, or model output.<\/li>\n<li>Hear the data first: examine the primary evidence before any colleague interpretation of it.<\/li>\n<li>Generate 2 additional anchors deliberately, 1 implausibly high and 1 implausibly low, then reason from each in turn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Structural_safeguards\"><\/span>Structural safeguards<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Structural safeguards work because they do not depend on introspection. Silberzahn and colleagues (2018) gave 29 independent teams the same dataset and the same research question, and the teams reached materially different conclusions. Running analyses in parallel makes that variability visible instead of hiding it behind a single first specification.<\/p>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\"><strong>Method<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"240\"><strong>What it counters<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"224\"><strong>Effort required<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Preregistration<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Analytic choices drifting toward the expected result<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Moderate, concentrated at the proposal stage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Blinded or masked analysis<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Interpretation anchored on the hoped-for direction<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Moderate; needs a separate data manager<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Multi-analyst design<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">A single team specification defining the answer<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">High, but strong value for contested questions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Specification curve analysis<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The first model becoming the privileged model<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Moderate and largely computational<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Independent double coding<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Early coded cases setting a template<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Moderate; already standard in qualitative work<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Independently collected peer review<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Reviewers anchoring on one another<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Low; an editorial policy change<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Adversarial collaboration<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Shared framing assumptions across a research group<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">High, but often decisive in disputes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>No single method removes anchoring. The aim is to reduce the number of points at which one early value can propagate unchecked through a project.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Replication_Evidence_for_Anchoring_Effects\"><\/span>The Replication Evidence for Anchoring Effects<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Anchoring is often presented as a single, uniformly robust phenomenon. The evidence is more differentiated than that, and describing it accurately is itself a piece of good research practice.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Classic anchoring, in which a stated numeric anchor precedes a related estimate, replicated across 36 samples in the original Many Labs project (Klein et al., 2014).<\/li>\n<li>Incidental anchoring did not replicate in Many Labs 2. With 6,826 participants the effect was d = 0.04 and indistinguishable from zero, against an original d = 0.30 (Klein et al., 2018).<\/li>\n<li>Subliminal anchoring has failed high-powered preregistered replication attempts.<\/li>\n<li>Proposed moderators, including Big 5 personality traits and cognitive ability, have not held up, and measures of individual susceptibility to anchoring show poor reliability.<\/li>\n<li>A 2025 reanalysis in Economic Inquiry argues that many studies in this literature are underpowered and that reported effect magnitudes are inflated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The practical reading: treat explicit numeric anchors in your own workflow as a real risk, and treat claims about incidental numbers, subliminal cues, or personality-based immunity with caution.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Anchoring_Bias_Compared_With_Related_Cognitive_Biases\"><\/span>Anchoring Bias Compared With Related Cognitive Biases<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>These biases overlap in everyday description but differ in mechanism. The third column gives the practical test for telling them apart in your own work.<\/p>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\"><strong>Bias<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"240\"><strong>Core mechanism<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"224\"><strong>How to tell it apart<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Anchoring bias<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">An initial value or framing pulls later estimates toward it<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">The judgment tracks the first figure seen rather than the strongest evidence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Confirmation bias<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Evidence supporting an existing belief is sought and weighted more heavily<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">The belief predates the search; anchoring needs only a first exposure<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Primacy effect<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Information presented first is remembered better<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">A memory advantage; anchoring shifts judgment even without better recall<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Framing effect<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Logically equivalent descriptions produce different choices<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">The wording changes, not a reference value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Status quo bias<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">The current state is preferred over any change<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">The anchor is the existing arrangement and the pull is toward inaction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Conservatism bias<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Beliefs are updated too little given new evidence<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Concerns the rate of updating; anchoring concerns the starting point<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"160\">Availability heuristic<\/td>\n<td width=\"240\">Easily recalled examples are judged more frequent<\/td>\n<td width=\"224\">Driven by ease of retrieval rather than by order of presentation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Practical_Checklist_for_Research_Teams\"><\/span>A Practical Checklist for Research Teams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Adopt as many of these as your resources allow. Each one closes a specific entry point identified earlier in this article.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Before the literature search, write and date your own definition of the construct and your expected effect size.<\/li>\n<li>Set the primary analysis specification before you see the outcome data.<\/li>\n<li>Base power calculations on the smallest effect size of interest rather than on a pilot result.<\/li>\n<li>Randomize or counterbalance scale ranges, item order, and starting values in every instrument.<\/li>\n<li>Have another analyst work independently on at least the primary result.<\/li>\n<li>Collect peer reviews independently, and assess revisions against the journal standard rather than against the original submission.<\/li>\n<li>Record your own reading of any paper before consulting an AI-generated summary.<\/li>\n<li>Run leave-one-out checks in any synthesis dominated by a single early study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_Asked_Questions\"><\/span>Frequently Asked Questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_anchoring_bias_in_simple_terms\"><\/span>What is anchoring bias in simple terms?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Anchoring bias means the first number or idea you encounter sticks, and every later judgment gets measured against it. The anchor does not need to be correct, relevant, or even sensible in order to exert that pull.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_an_example_of_anchoring_bias_in_research\"><\/span>What is an example of anchoring bias in research?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A team runs a pilot study, observes a large effect, and uses that estimate to plan the sample size for the main study. The pilot value was noisy, the main study ends up underpowered, and the anchor caused the error.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_anchoring_bias_the_same_as_confirmation_bias\"><\/span>Is anchoring bias the same as confirmation bias?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Anchoring needs only a first exposure to a value or framing, whereas confirmation bias requires a belief you already hold and then defend. They frequently operate together: an anchor supplies the initial belief that confirmation bias goes on to protect.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_discovered_anchoring_bias\"><\/span>Who discovered anchoring bias?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman described the anchoring effect in 1974 in their work on judgment under uncertainty. Their wheel of fortune experiment showed that an obviously random number still moved participant estimates.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_anchoring_bias_be_eliminated_completely\"><\/span>Can anchoring bias be eliminated completely?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Anchoring persists among experts, under financial incentives, and even after explicit warning. The realistic goal is to reduce the number of points where a single early value can propagate, using preregistration, masking, and independent parallel analysis.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_anchoring_bias_affect_peer_review\"><\/span>How does anchoring bias affect peer review?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It shapes both severity and revision decisions. A co-reviewer comment seen first sets the tone for the review that follows, and the original submission anchors judgment of the revised version instead of the journal standard.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_anchoring_bias_affect_AI-assisted_literature_reviews\"><\/span>How does anchoring bias affect AI-assisted literature reviews?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A generated summary arrives before your own reading, so its emphases and omissions become your picture of the paper. Ranked results also define the literature you believe exists. Writing your own summary first is the simplest guard.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_can_I_avoid_anchoring_bias_in_survey_design\"><\/span>How can I avoid anchoring bias in survey design?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Randomize response scale ranges, counterbalance question order, avoid numeric examples in the instructions, and use open-ended or randomized starting values in willingness-to-pay tasks. Pretest alternative versions and compare the distributions.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"References\"><\/span>References<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Englich, B., Mussweiler, T., &amp; Strack, F. (2006). Playing dice with criminal sentences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(2), 188-200.<\/li>\n<li>Furnham, A., &amp; Boo, H. C. (2011). A literature review of the anchoring effect. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 40(1), 35-42.<\/li>\n<li>Klein, R. A., et al. (2014). Investigating variation in replicability: A Many Labs replication project. Social Psychology, 45(3), 142-152.<\/li>\n<li>Klein, R. A., et al. (2018). Many Labs 2: Investigating variation in replicability across samples and settings. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(4), 443-490.<\/li>\n<li>Mussweiler, T., Strack, F., &amp; Pfeiffer, T. (2000). Overcoming the inevitable anchoring effect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(9), 1142-1150.<\/li>\n<li>Northcraft, G. B., &amp; Neale, M. A. (1987). Experts, amateurs, and real estate. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 39(1), 84-97.<\/li>\n<li>Silberzahn, R., et al. (2018). Many analysts, one data set. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(3), 337-356.<\/li>\n<li>Tversky, A., &amp; Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131.\n<p><em>This article was originally published on January 8, 2025, and updated on August 07, 2026.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways: Anchoring bias is the tendency to weight the first number or framing you encounter too heavily, so that it pulls every judgment that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":10793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[487,1],"tags":[938,939],"class_list":["post-10792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-reading","category-researcher-life","tag-anchoring-bias","tag-bias-in-research-findings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is Anchoring Bias? 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