Recency Bias

Examples

• Investors often buy stocks that have performed well in the recent past, even when long-term data suggests these might be overvalued. Conversely, they sell after recent drops, sometimes at the worst possible time.
• Managers frequently place more emphasis on an employee's most recent weeks of work rather than evaluating their entire performance period. An employee who performed well all year but made mistakes just before review time might receive a lower rating.
• Commentators and fans often judge athletes based on their most recent games, leading to dramatic swings in how they're perceived. A quarterback might be called "elite" after two good games, then "washed up" after two poor performances.

All cognitive biases

• Confirmation Bias
• Availability Heuristic
• Dunning-Kruger Effect
• Anchoring Bias
• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Negativity Bias
• Hindsight Bias
• Sunk Cost Fallacy
• In-Group Bias
• Optimism Bias
• Framing Effect
• Self-Serving Bias
• Halo Effect
• Recency Bias
• Survivorship Bias
• Implicit Bias