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decision making
The first number you hear dictates your entire decision.
People estimating the value of an item are consistently pulled toward the first number they are given, even if it is irrelevant.
Whether it is a salary negotiation or a store price, the brain uses the first available datum as a starting point and fails to adjust far enough away from it. The initial number acts like an anchor that holds your final estimate in place.
Your final choices are tethered to the first suggestion you receive.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Tversky and Kahneman (1974)
- What the check found
- This is a foundational concept in behavioral economics. The 1974 study by Tversky and Kahneman remains the standard reference for the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.