BiasValuation & choice · Cognitive Bias · Entry 108
Omission Bias – when doing nothing feels safer than making a mistake
Do you believe that doing nothing is safer, even if it leads to bad outcomes? That’s Omission Bias – the tendency to view harmful actions as worse than equally harmful inactions.
Where it can show up
- Medicine – parents avoid vaccines due to fear of side effects, even though the risks of not vaccinating are greater.
- Work & management – leaders refuse to make tough decisions out of fear of mistakes, leading to bigger failures.
- Ethics & morality – people criticize a doctor for prescribing the wrong drug but ignore the harm of not treating a patient at all.
A practical countermeasure
- Consider the cost of inaction – doing nothing is still a choice with real consequences.
- Don’t let fear of mistakes freeze you – sometimes action is better than passive waiting.
- Be honest with yourself – avoiding responsibility doesn’t make you less accountable for the outcome.