Even though Vusi never actually exercises, you have always assumed that he is an athlete because he hangs around at the gym (like other athletes), drinks bottled water nonstop, and wears sweat suits everywhere.Your (false) assumption that Vusi is an athlete is MOST clearly an example of the ____.
A)availability heuristic
B)actor-observer bias
C)representativeness heuristic
D)anchoring and adjustment heuristic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of the representativeness heuristic, which is the tendency to rely on stereotypical or representative models when making judgments about people or situations. In this case, the stereotype of athletes is being used to judge Vusi, even though there is no evidence that he actually is one. The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to make judgments based on the ease with which information comes to mind, the actor-observer bias refers to the differential judgments made about oneself versus others in social situations, and the anchoring and adjustment heuristic refers to the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making judgments.

Even Though Vusi Never Actually Exercises, You Have Always Assumed