Representativeness Heuristic

Definition

The representativeness heuristic is a mental shortcut used when making judgments about the probability of an event under uncertainty. It operates under the belief that if something resembles (is representative) of a category then it probably belongs in that category.

Analogy

It's like judging a book by its cover. If the cover has a spaceship and aliens, you'd probably guess it's a sci-fi book. That's representativeness heuristic - making assumptions based on appearances.

Related terms

Base Rate Fallacy: This is when we ignore statistical information in favor of using irrelevant information, that one incorrectly believes to be relevant, to make a judgment.

Stereotype: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Gambler’s Fallacy: The mistaken belief that if something happens more frequently than normal during some period, then it will happen less frequently in the future (or vice versa).