{"id":54319,"date":"2021-11-12T07:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=54319"},"modified":"2021-11-16T17:03:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T21:03:01","slug":"ostrich-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the ostrich effect bias? How dangerous is denial syndrome?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ostrich effect bias is the tendency to avoid negative information and refuse to accept that objective truth exists because it causes pain. This bias is dangerous because it can lull you into believing that a situation is better than it really is, which causes things to deteriorate further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to learn more about the ostrich effect bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Is the Ostrich Effect?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Denial is denying that an objective truth exists because it causes pain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s often mixed up with love, death, and chemical dependency<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Denial can possibly be helpful in these situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If the objective truth is not available, and you need denial to persevere<\/li><li>If the common wisdom is incorrect, and denying it helps you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/make-better-decisions\/\">make better decisions<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why It Evolved<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The ostrich effect bias likely evolved because avoiding pain probably helped people continue to survive in emotionally difficult situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How It Can Be Harmful<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The ostrich effect bias can only worsen your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a> because the truth exists and you refuse to accept it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bias compounds consistency tendency and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/sunk-cost-fallacy-example\/\">sunk cost fallacy<\/a>. Say you\u2019ve lost a lot of money in a bad venture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Denial tricks you into thinking the situation is better than it really is.<\/li><li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-avoid-the-sunk-cost-fallacy\/\">sunk cost<\/a> fallacy prompts you to put more money after bad.<\/li><li>Self-consistency makes you behave with inertia so it\u2019s harder not to behave differently than you have.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Examples of the Ostrich Effect Bias<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Denial is the first stage of grief, suggesting it\u2019s part of a coping mechanism.<\/li><li>Substance abusers tend to deny they have a problem as they further deteriorate.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Antidotes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To make the truth less painful, try exposure therapy to the truth. The more you repeat the truth, the less painful it\u2019ll become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Become comfortable with accepting mistakes. Then facing the truth won\u2019t be as painful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the ostrich effect bias? How dangerous is denial syndrome? The ostrich effect bias is the tendency to avoid negative information and refuse to accept that objective truth exists because it causes pain. This bias is dangerous because it can lull you into believing that a situation is better than it really is, which causes things to deteriorate further. Read on to learn more about the ostrich effect bias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,9,43],"tags":[533],"class_list":["post-54319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-poor-charlies-almanack","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ostrich effect bias makes it difficult to accept painful truths, and this clouds our decision-making. Here is how to control the tendency.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ostrich effect bias makes it difficult to accept painful truths, and this clouds our decision-making. Here is how to control the tendency.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-12T11:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-16T21:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"789\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joseph Adebisi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joseph Adebisi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joseph Adebisi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d8daf45671a09e8745a7a9f50a03b2a0\"},\"headline\":\"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-12T11:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-16T21:03:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\"},\"wordCount\":324,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Poor Charlie&#039;s Almanack\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\",\"name\":\"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-12T11:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-16T21:03:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ostrich effect bias makes it difficult to accept painful truths, and this clouds our decision-making. Here is how to control the tendency.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":789,\"caption\":\"The 25 Cognitive Biases: Ostrich Effect Bias\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d8daf45671a09e8745a7a9f50a03b2a0\",\"name\":\"Joseph Adebisi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_20200519_184908_765-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_20200519_184908_765-scaled.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Joseph Adebisi\"},\"description\":\"Joseph has had a lifelong obsession with reading and acquiring new knowledge. He reads and writes for a living, and reads some more when he is supposedly taking a break from work. The first literature he read as a kid were Shakespeare's plays. Not surprisingly, he barely understood any of it. His favorite fiction authors are Tom Clancy, Ted Bell, and John Grisham. His preferred non-fiction genres are history, philosophy, business &amp; economics, and instructional guides.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/joseph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity - Shortform Books","description":"Ostrich effect bias makes it difficult to accept painful truths, and this clouds our decision-making. Here is how to control the tendency.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity","og_description":"Ostrich effect bias makes it difficult to accept painful truths, and this clouds our decision-making. Here is how to control the tendency.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-11-12T11:01:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-16T21:03:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":789,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joseph Adebisi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joseph Adebisi","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/"},"author":{"name":"Joseph Adebisi","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d8daf45671a09e8745a7a9f50a03b2a0"},"headline":"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity","datePublished":"2021-11-12T11:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-16T21:03:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/"},"wordCount":324,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg","keywords":["Poor Charlie&#039;s Almanack"],"articleSection":["Business","Psychology","Self-Improvement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/","name":"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg","datePublished":"2021-11-12T11:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-16T21:03:01+00:00","description":"Ostrich effect bias makes it difficult to accept painful truths, and this clouds our decision-making. Here is how to control the tendency.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg","width":1200,"height":789,"caption":"The 25 Cognitive Biases: Ostrich Effect Bias"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ostrich-effect\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ostrich Effect Bias: Why People Avoid Negativity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d8daf45671a09e8745a7a9f50a03b2a0","name":"Joseph Adebisi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_20200519_184908_765-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_20200519_184908_765-scaled.jpg","caption":"Joseph Adebisi"},"description":"Joseph has had a lifelong obsession with reading and acquiring new knowledge. He reads and writes for a living, and reads some more when he is supposedly taking a break from work. The first literature he read as a kid were Shakespeare's plays. Not surprisingly, he barely understood any of it. His favorite fiction authors are Tom Clancy, Ted Bell, and John Grisham. His preferred non-fiction genres are history, philosophy, business &amp; economics, and instructional guides.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/joseph\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/denial.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54319"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54529,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54319\/revisions\/54529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}