Affiliation bias
Behavioral New World
Affiliation bias
October 1, 2021
Affiliation bias is our tendency to judge a person’s actions based on their affiliations rather than on their individual merits. Our own affiliations affect how we judge people as well. We can think of groups with which people are affiliated as their “tribes.” Loyalty to one or more tribes probably has evolutionary origins—our tribe kept us safe, other tribes were a threat. So affiliation bias is a heuristic—shortcut—to forming opinions about others, sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious.
For example, people tend to think about generational cohorts, e.g., the tribe of Baby Boomers, the tribe of Gen X, and so forth. A recent study examined people’s attitude toward different generations.[1] There was a widespread perception that Baby Boomers are not particularly concerned about climate change. And yet Boomers expressed just as much concern about climate change as other age groups. Further, they are more likely than Gen X or millennials to boycott products, suggesting that they behave in a manner consistent with their concerns—it is not just talk. Judging people by their generational affiliation is probably an unconscious bias.
Affiliations can be quite intense. Some years ago I went on the Heineken brewery tour in Amsterdam. A fair number of football (soccer) fans from one team (which I’ll not name) were on the tour as well. Of course, they identified with their team, a phenomenon seen around the world, and their affiliation with their team was explicit and loud. Their affiliation bias was conscious rather than unconscious.
An aside: The tour ended in the tasting room. At the time, the protocol was “All the beer you can drink for 30 minutes.” Based on my admittedly anecdotal experience, I would venture that alcohol amplifies affiliation bias—it certainly seemed to get stronger as the 30 minutes ticked by! The next time I went through the tour, the protocol was, “Here are two beers. Take as much time as you’d like.”
Another study examined the perceptions of students about the penalties called during a football (American) game.[2] Perhaps not surprisingly, the students thought the penalties called on the opposing team were justified, reflecting egregious violations of the rules. And they also thought that the penalties called on their own team involved rather trivial violations of the rules. This phenomenon was true of students from both schools. In short, team affiliation had a significant impact on the students’ perception of what happened in the game, even though the students saw the same plays on the field.
Perhaps the most amusing consequence of the affiliation bias has to do with Airbnb rentals in college towns when a rival football team is in town. A recent paper shows that the Airbnb property owners raise their prices more when a rival is in town than when a non-rival team is the opponent.[3] In fact, they raise prices so high that not all the rooms are filled. The resulting vacancies translated into 30% less revenue on rival weekends compared to weekends when a highly ranked, but not rival, team is the opponent.
What can be done to mitigate the effects of affiliation bias in our decision making? The first step is awareness that this bias exists and that we are almost certainly subject to it, at least occasionally. As the football fans example shows, we are sometimes partially aware of some of our affiliation biases: “You’re a fan of the Opposing Team, thus not a member of my tribe, and therefore an idiot.”
But we are not always aware of our biases. I think a red flag should go up especially when we find ourselves making snap judgments e.g., “He’s a lawyer and lawyers are the scourge of the earth.” Perhaps you had a bad experience with a lawyer and are now painting the entire profession (tribe) with a broad brush.
Wait a minute. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, “On what basis am I making this judgment? What data support the opinion I have? Are all lawyers indeed jerks?” Surely you can think of at least one exception, perhaps a lawyer who advocates for foster children.
Step on the judgment brake. By questioning whether your opinion is based on affiliation bias (or perhaps other biases such as confirmation bias), more accurate judgments and better decisions will follow. You can then think of yourself as being affiliated with the tribe People Who Think Clearly.
[1] “Generation Covid,” New Scientist, September 18-24, 2021, pp. 35-39.
[2] “They saw a game; a case study,” available at https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fh0057880
[3] “Affiliation Bias in the Online Market for Rental Accommodation,” available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3055496