How does action bias arise?

[Raihan8]

For centuries, there has been the idea that it is better to be busy than to sit still. As hunter-gatherers, it was necessary to take immediate action to survive (Patt & Zeckhauser, 2000). In today's society, this is less applicable, but we still support taking action even if it provides little to no progress. If action is rewarded more than inaction, we will also take action in situations where it is actually more appropriate to do nothing. The need for appreciation or reward then prompts us to do so.

The opposite is also true. If inaction is punished, a pattern of always india mailing list wanting to take action in order not to be punished develops (Zeelenberg, van den Bos, van Dijk & Pieters, 2002). Taking action also has to do with being productive and controlling. By doing something, we have the feeling that we can still change something about the situation, whereas doing nothing is more like accepting that this is the way things are.

Action Bias cartoon



Examples in practice
Loading a website seems to take forever, therefore you keep refreshing, when sometimes it is faster if you just wait patiently. Especially if you're waiting in line for tickets, this is a counterproductive method.
After a bad quarter, a company's strategy is changed. While the bad quarter may not have been caused by strategy at all but by a deteriorating economy or a sick salesperson.
After a data breach is discovered with a vendor's software package, a contract is immediately signed with a competitor, even though it is not at all clear whether this competitor is better protected against data breaches