The focusing illusion is a cognitive bias in which people overestimate how much a single specific factor will affect their overall happiness, leading them to believe that a change such as a promotion, a raise or a move to a more desirable place will substantially improve their well-being while they neglect the influence of other, equally important contributors to happiness such as social relationships or everyday routines. The concept was introduced by Daniel Kahneman and David Schkade in a 1998 study that found people significantly overestimated how much living in California would improve their life satisfaction compared with living elsewhere.
Facts
Core ClaimPeople overestimate the impact of a specific factor on their overall happiness. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of Phenomenon Connections
In Branch
Source Focusing illusion, Wikipedia
Sources
1. Focusing illusion, Wikipedia
Lead section, first sentence
The focusing illusion is a cognitive bias where individuals overestimate the impact of a specific factor on their overall happiness.
Lead section, third sentence
The concept was introduced by Daniel Kahneman and David Schkade in their 1998 study, which found that individuals overestimated the effect of living in California on their life satisfaction compared to other states.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
The focusing illusion is a cognitive bias in which people overestimate how much a single specific factor will affect their overall happiness, leading them to believe that a change such as a promotion, a raise or a move to a more desirable place will substantially improve their well-being while they neglect the influence of other, equally important contributors to happiness such as social relationships or everyday routines.
In Branch: Cognitive Psychology, Categories
Wikipedia article 'Focusing illusion' is filed under Category:Cognitive biases.
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