What effect does anchoring have on decision-making?

Anchoring significantly influences decision-making by relying on an initial piece of information—whether it is relevant or not—to set a mental baseline for subsequent judgments. This phenomenon occurs when individuals use an initial reference point, or "anchor," to make estimations or decisions.

For instance, if a person is first presented with an arbitrary number or value before making a related decision, their estimates tend to gravitate toward that anchor, even if it is unrelated to the context of the decision. This can lead to biases where decisions are skewed, influenced by irrelevant details rather than being based solely on objective data or analyses. As a result, people may make less accurate assessments because their thought process has been unwittingly guided by that initial anchor, highlighting how anchoring can create disconnects between actual facts and perceived information.

The other choices do not accurately reflect the primary influence of anchoring on decision-making. Instead of promoting independent thinking, it often hinders it by leading individuals to rely heavily on the initial information they received, limiting their ability to evaluate situations freely and creatively. While effective risk calculation or minimizing prior beliefs can be beneficial, they are not direct results of the anchoring effect.