In our judgements, we overestimate the importance of the aspects we focus on.

Which of the following statements do you think are true?

👉 People who live in a Mediterranean climate  are happier than people who live in a temperate climate.

👉 If you can no longer walk, you will be unhappy for the rest of your life..

👉 People with lower incomes are much more dissatisfied with their lives than people with higher incomes.

👉 You would be happier if you looked better.

 

If you think that one or more these statements are true, it's because of the focusing illusion.

 

The focusing illusion is a cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate the importance of something because we focus our attention on it. When judging an object, we overemphasise the importance of the aspects we focus on. For example, if we focus on one aspect of life, such as marriage or health, we overestimate the impact of this aspect on our overall life satisfaction. The focusing illusion results in misleading beliefs about the importance of whatever we focus on, making it seem much more important than it actually is.

 

In a study by Schkade & Kahneman, students in the US Midwest and in Southern California rated life satisfaction for themselves, and for someone similar to themselves in one of the two regions. Participants who rated a similar other expected Californians to be more satisfied than Midwesterners, mainly because of California’s pleasant Mediterranean climate. But self-reported life satisfaction was the same in both regions! Judgments of life satisfaction in a different location are susceptible to the focusing illusion: Easily observed and distinctive differences between locations, like the climate, are given more weight in such judgments than they have in reality. In reality, most aspects of life are the same no matter where we are: unnecessary meetings at work, being stuck in traffic, tidying up the house, paying bills, the humdrum of everyday life. Once we get used to our new environment, we don’t think much about the climate anymore, because we focus on factors that are more important, like safety, living close to family, social life and job opportunities.

 

In several other studies, students were asked about their overall life satisfaction and about their satisfaction in one specific area of life, such as dating, marriage or health. When the question about the specific area was asked first, the answers about overall life satisfaction were strongly influenced by the satisfaction with the specific area. By focusing on one specific area first, students increased its importance and rated their overall happiness based on that area.

 

Life satisfaction is a subjective judgment of happiness. It’s not feasible to consider and accurately weigh all aspects of life, so life satisfaction judgments largely depend on aspects that come to mind easily when we think about our lives, such as health, relationships, work or recent events.

 

We generally overestimate the influence of desirable and undesirable life circumstances on life satisfaction. For example, we overrate both the life dissatisfaction of people with lower incomes  and the life satisfaction of people with higher incomes, because we focus on aspects related to income. But life satisfaction depends more on factors other than income, so in reality the differences aren’t nearly as large as we expect.

 

The focusing illusion leads to wrong predictions of future happiness, for ourselves and others. When we think about what it is like to be a lottery winner, paraplegic, or a resident of California, we focus on the distinctive aspects of these life circumstances that come to mind easily, like having a lot of money, not being able to walk and the sunny weather. As a result, we overestimate the importance of these aspects, which makes us overvalue the effect of the new life circumstance on our happiness. In reality, once we have gotten used to a new life circumstance, we do not pay much attention to these distinctive aspects.

 

People tend to focus more on negative aspects than on positive ones (negativity bias, for details see the References section). The focusing illusion increases the importance of these negative aspects. As a result, we attach disproportionate importance to aspects that we perceive as negative in our lives. This is a recipe for an unhappy life. For example, when we receive numerous positive and one critical comment, the negativity bias makes us focus on the critical comment, and the focusing illusion increases its importance, making it the most important comment, which far outweighs the positive comments we have received.

 

The focusing illusion can lead to bad decisions, so be careful when making life-altering decisions. Make sure you take into account all aspects that are important to you, including the important details of everyday life. For example, you thought the Mediterranean climate would make you happy, but now you feel miserable because you miss your family. Or you thought that the larger house in the nicer city would improve your life satisfaction,  but now your feel annoyed because your daily commute takes an hour longer.

 

How can we reduce the impact of the focusing illusion?

 

To reduce the impact of the focusing illusion, we must first become aware of its potential impact, especially when making decisions with high stakes. Then, in our decision making process, we need to include all aspects that are important to us in this particular situation, not just those that come to mind easily.  

 

1️⃣ Become aware of the focusing illusion

When making a decision, especially when the stakes are high, it is advisable to explore whether you are captivated by the focusing illusion, by asking yourself questions such as:

🤔 Am I just focusing on the few aspects that come to mind easily?

🤔 Am I making this important just because I am focusing on it?

🤔 How important is this really?

 

If your focus turns out to be too narrow, make sure you take into account all aspects that are important to you.

 

2️⃣ Take into account all aspects that are important to you

In your decision making process, do not only use aspects that come to mind easily, but take into account all aspects that are important to you in the particular situation.

 

Here are a few suggestions to help you find the important aspects:

👉 For at least one week write down the best and worst experiences of each day. What gave you energy? What reduced your energy? What made you feel fulfilled? What didn’t fulfil you at all? Then reflect on what you wrote down to extract the aspects that are important to you for this particular situation. For example, if being with family members is one of your best experiences, add "living near my family" to your list. Or if commuting is among your worst experiences, add ‘maximum commute time of one hour’ to the list (or something similar).

👉 Get inspiration from others who have been in a similar situation by searching online for articles or videos, checking your local library for relevant books, or talking to subject matter experts and people with relevant practical experience.

👉 Ask for input from people who know you well, like family and friends. Others sometimes know us better than we know ourselves.

👉 If the stakes are high, you may want to try out a few things. For example, before you decide to move to another city, you could stay there for a month (not as a tourist) to experience what it is like to live in that city. Or before deciding on a career path, closely observe for a day someone performing the role you are considering.

 

 

🎉👏🎈

 

Success is of course never guaranteed, but by taking into account all relevant aspects we can reduce the potentially negative impact of the focusing illusion.

 

 

References

 

Thinking, Fast and Slow; by Daniel Kahneman.

 

Negativity bias: Why you are addicted to bad news; A3 Life Design; by Adrie Kuil. https://www.a3lifedesign.com/blog-english/how-to-counteract-the-negativity-bias

 

Focusing illusions; Farnam Street; https://fs.blog/focusing-illusions/

 

Be Careful What You Focus On; Psychology Today; by Amie M. Gordon, Ph.D. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-you-and-me/201803/be-careful-what-you-focus

 

Kaczmarek, L.D., Enko, J., Awdziejczyk, M. et al. Would You Be Happier If You Looked Better? A Focusing Illusion. J Happiness Stud 17, 357–365 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9598-0

 

Topics & Contact