Click the letters of FACETS to review the heuristic traps
But why does it matter?
FAMILIARITY
The tendency of a person to perceive familiar things as higher quality, better options than unfamiliar things. If a person has paddled a stretch of river many times, they might be blind to new hazards caused by lower or higher water flow than usual, for example.
ACCEPTANCE
The tendency to choose behaviors and make decisions that a person anticipates to be socially popular, ones that will gain approval or acceptance from others. McCammon’s (2003) original study indicated that males were more likely to make riskier choices (in avalanche terrain) when in the company of women, implying that they were hoping that the women would perceive them as more courageous or attractive as a result.
CONSISTENCY / COMMITMENT
The tendency of a person to want to (a) stick to a preconceived plan or (b) perceive themselves as being consistent over time, even when that requires them to discount their previous beliefs and actions. An example of the consistency bias can be found in the classic stories of a party sticking totheir agenda (summit plans, boat launch time, camp destination, etc.) despite information that should lead them to reevaluate.
EXPERT HALO
The tendency for positive impressions of a person in one area to positively influence another person’s opinion or feelings about that person in other areas. For example, students in an outdoor program might assume that their technically skilled mountaineering instructor is also the right person to help them solve their interpersonal conflicts or they might assume that this person is inherently a safe driver, though these skills sets are completely unrelated to each other.
TRACKS / SCARCITY
The perception that there is a rare (scarce) opportunity that may not come again. The scarcity of the opportunity may not decrease a person’s awareness of hazards, but it does elevate their perception of the benefits of taking the risk. Interestingly, this heuristic can be driven not only by changing weather conditions but also by an outdoor program’s administrative elements, such as having a coveted permit to do something on a certain day or paying to summit a peak on a certain day, regardless of. the conditions.
SOCIAL FACILITATION
The tendency of a person to allow the presence of other people to either elevate (or decrease) their appetite for risk-taking, depending on their confidence in their risk-taking skills. McCammon (2004) provides the practical example of the well-known tendency for the best moguls to form directly under ski lifts; good skiers actually ski better when they think other people are watching.
Decision-Making Awareness
Taking the time to teach your staff specific decision-making strategies will not only help them make better decisions, it will help them understand why the decisions are better. By learning about decision-making traps, you are better equipping your staff to have greater mindfulness when faced with difficult choices.
FACETS
Gates Richards
Created on September 22, 2025
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Transcript
Click the letters of FACETS to review the heuristic traps
But why does it matter?
FAMILIARITY
The tendency of a person to perceive familiar things as higher quality, better options than unfamiliar things. If a person has paddled a stretch of river many times, they might be blind to new hazards caused by lower or higher water flow than usual, for example.
ACCEPTANCE
The tendency to choose behaviors and make decisions that a person anticipates to be socially popular, ones that will gain approval or acceptance from others. McCammon’s (2003) original study indicated that males were more likely to make riskier choices (in avalanche terrain) when in the company of women, implying that they were hoping that the women would perceive them as more courageous or attractive as a result.
CONSISTENCY / COMMITMENT
The tendency of a person to want to (a) stick to a preconceived plan or (b) perceive themselves as being consistent over time, even when that requires them to discount their previous beliefs and actions. An example of the consistency bias can be found in the classic stories of a party sticking totheir agenda (summit plans, boat launch time, camp destination, etc.) despite information that should lead them to reevaluate.
EXPERT HALO
The tendency for positive impressions of a person in one area to positively influence another person’s opinion or feelings about that person in other areas. For example, students in an outdoor program might assume that their technically skilled mountaineering instructor is also the right person to help them solve their interpersonal conflicts or they might assume that this person is inherently a safe driver, though these skills sets are completely unrelated to each other.
TRACKS / SCARCITY
The perception that there is a rare (scarce) opportunity that may not come again. The scarcity of the opportunity may not decrease a person’s awareness of hazards, but it does elevate their perception of the benefits of taking the risk. Interestingly, this heuristic can be driven not only by changing weather conditions but also by an outdoor program’s administrative elements, such as having a coveted permit to do something on a certain day or paying to summit a peak on a certain day, regardless of. the conditions.
SOCIAL FACILITATION
The tendency of a person to allow the presence of other people to either elevate (or decrease) their appetite for risk-taking, depending on their confidence in their risk-taking skills. McCammon (2004) provides the practical example of the well-known tendency for the best moguls to form directly under ski lifts; good skiers actually ski better when they think other people are watching.
Decision-Making Awareness
Taking the time to teach your staff specific decision-making strategies will not only help them make better decisions, it will help them understand why the decisions are better. By learning about decision-making traps, you are better equipping your staff to have greater mindfulness when faced with difficult choices.