Which bias involves assuming one could have predicted an event after it has occurred?

Enhance your knowledge for the ETS Major Field Test in Psychology. Study with an array of questions and thorough explanations. Prepare effectively for your exam!

Hindsight bias is a cognitive bias that occurs when individuals believe they could have predicted the outcome of an event after it has already happened. This phenomenon leads people to see events as having been more predictable than they actually were. For example, once a sports match has finished, fans might claim they "knew" the winning team would win, despite the uncertainty before the game started.

This bias is significant in psychology because it can affect decision-making and perceptions of risk. People may judge past events more harshly or view their own predictive abilities as more competent than they truly are. Awareness of hindsight bias is important in fields such as research and clinical practice, as it can influence evaluations of past events, judgments of responsibility, and the learning process from experiences.

The other concepts listed—like the just-world phenomenon, illusion of control, and frustration-aggression theory—deal with different psychological frameworks and do not specifically pertain to the perception of predictability after an event has occurred.

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