Illusory Correlation
We see an association between two variables (events, actions, ideas, etc.) when they aren’t actually associated.
Related studies:
- Ritter, D. (2014, November 02). When to Act on a Correlation, and When Not To. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2014/03/when-to-act-on-a-correlation-and-when-not-to
- Hyman, I. (2015, June 21). Race, Violence, and Illusory Correlations. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/mental-mishaps/201506/race-violence-and-illusory-correlations
- Ousey, G. C., & Kubrin, C. E. (2018). Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Contentious Issue. Annual Review of Criminology, 1(1), 63-84. doi:10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092026
- Illusory Correlation (SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY) – iResearchNet. (2016, January 21). Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/decision-making/illusory-correlation/
- Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive Psychology, 5(2), 207-232. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90033-9
- Munro, G. D., & Stansbury, J. A. (2009). The Dark Side of Self-Affirmation: Confirmation Bias and Illusory Correlation in Response to Threatening Information. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(9), 1143-1153. doi:10.1177/0146167209337163
- Matute, H., Yarritu, I. and Vadillo, M.A. (2011), Illusions of causality at the heart of pseudoscience. British Journal of Psychology, 102: 392-405. doi:10.1348/000712610X532210
- Illusory correlation. (2015). Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199657681.001.0001/acref-9780199657681-e-405
- Fiedler, K., Hemmeter, U., & Hofmann, C. (1984). The Origin of Illusory Correlations. European Journal of Social Psychology.
- Barbera, F. L. (2015). Educating to Tolerance: Effects of Communicating Social Psychology Research Findings. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 11(3), 476-483. doi:10.5964/ejop.v11i3.888
- Bender, J. C., Osler, C. L., & Simon, D. (2012). Noise Trading and Illusory Correlations in US Equity Markets*. Review of Finance, 17(2), 625-652. doi:10.1093/rof/rfr037
- Kolev, G., & Hogarth, R. (2010). Illusory correlation in the remuneration of chief executive officers: It pays to play golf, and well. Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.