Why does losing something hurt more than gaining the same thing feels good? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore loss aversion - the psychological bias that makes losses feel more powerful, painful and important than equivalent gains.

Discover how fear of loss shapes decision-making and behaviour; why we cling onto what we already have; and how to overcome this bias to get rid of old ideals and create space for improvement.

Studies and Links:

Why do we buy insurance? | The Decision Lab Loss Aversion - The Decision Lab

Why do we value items more if they belong to us? | The Decision Lab Endowment Effect - The Decision Lab

Why are we likely to continue with an investment even if it would be rational to give it up? | The Decision Lab The Sunk Cost Fallacy - The Decision Lab

Loss aversion in riskless choice: a reference-dependent model | Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman | Oxford University Press | UFL Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model

Why do we choose short-term rewards even when we know waiting would be better? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore temporal discounting - the tendency to value immediate rewards more highly than future ones, even when the future payoff is larger or wiser.

Discover how time distorts our judgement, and how understanding this bias can help you make decisions that you future self will actually thank you for.

Studies and links:

Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review | Shane Frederick, George Loewenstein and Ted O'Donoghue | Journal of Economic Literature Vol. XL | Carnegie Mellon University TimeDiscounting.pdf

Does the way information is presented change how we decide - even when the facts stay the same? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the framing effect - the cognitive bias that causes our choices to shift depending on whether something is framed as a gain or a loss.

Discover how wording steers our decisions, how identical options can feel compltetely different, and what to do to improve your judgement, so that you don't fall for the frame and start seeing reality.

Studies and links:

The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice | Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman Untitled

Framing Effect in Psychology | Simply Psychology Framing Effect In Psychology

Why do people with the least experience often feel the most confident - while true expertise comes with doubt? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Dunning-Kruger Effect - the cognitive bias that causes people with limited knowledge or skill to overestimate their ability, while more competent individuals feel less confident.

Discover how gaps in self-awareness distort confidence, why learning can initially make us feel worse before we get better, and how to spot when confidence is coming from ignorance rather than understanding.

Studies and links:

Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments | Research Gate | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (PDF) Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

How the Dunning-Kruger Effect works | Very Well Mind The Dunning-Kruger Effect: An Overestimation of Capability

Why does making even small progress feel so motivating — and why do setbacks drain us so quickly? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the progress principle — the idea that consistent, meaningful progress is one of the strongest drivers of motivation, engagement, and well-being. When we feel like we’re moving forward, our confidence grows; when progress stalls, motivation collapses.

Discover how recognising small wins can transform performance, persistence, and morale — and how to structure your goals to keep momentum working in your favour.

Studies and links:

The Progress Principle | Psychology Fanatic Understanding the Progress Principle: Small Wins for Big Success - Psychology Fanatic

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work | Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer (2011)

Why do we seek out information that agrees with us — and ignore what doesn’t? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore confirmation bias — the tendency to favour evidence that supports our existing beliefs while dismissing or downplaying anything that challenges them.

Discover how to recognise when you’re searching for reassurance instead of truth — and how to challenge your own thinking before it locks you into the wrong conclusion.

Studies and Links:

On the failure to eliminate hypotheses in a conceptual task | Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology | Peter Wason wason-qjep1960.pdf

Cognitive Biases and Brain Biology Help Explain Why Facts Don't Change Minds | UConn Today

Cognitive Biases and Brain Biology Help Explain Why Facts Don't Change Minds - UConn Today

Why do first numbers stick in our minds — even when we know they’re arbitrary? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore anchoring bias — the mental shortcut that causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we encounter when making decisions. From price tags and negotiations to estimates, grades, and everyday judgments, we uncover how initial anchors quietly pull our thinking off course.

Discover how to recognise when an anchor is shaping your choices — and how to break free from its influence so you can think more clearly and decide more deliberately.

Studies and links:

Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases | Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky tversky_k_heuristics_biases.pdf

Anchoring bias & Adjustment Heuristic: Definition and Examples | Simply Psychology Anchoring Bias and Adjustment Heuristic in Psychology

Why do rare events feel far more common than they really are? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the availability error — the mental shortcut that makes us judge probability based on how easily examples come to mind. From dramatic news stories to personal memories that stick with us, we uncover how vivid or recent information can distort our perception of risk, influence our decisions, and quietly shape our fears and beliefs.

Discover how to spot when your judgement is being guided by what’s most memorable — not what’s most accurate — and how to recalibrate your thinking when it matters most.

Studies and links:

Availability Heuristic and Decision Making | Simply Psychology Availability Heuristic In Psychology: Definition & Examples

Availability: A Heuristic for judging Frequency and Probability | Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman Tversky availability.pdf