Watch for
Assuming co-located colleagues are more productive or committed.
Social & PerceptionBias #58
Proximity Bias
We favour people who are physically closer.
The unconscious tendency to favour individuals who are physically closer over equally qualified people who are farther away.
Why it matters: Became central during the shift to remote and hybrid work.
Try this
Evaluate contributions based on output quality not physical presence.
Real-world example
A manager gives in-office team members more autonomy and higher-profile projects than remote workers.
Key researchers
Nicholas Bloom
First described in 2020
Psychological mechanism
Mere exposure and salience. People we see regularly are more mentally accessible which is misattributed to higher competence.
Related Biases
Below is a realistic scenario. Read it, then choose what you would do. The feedback will show whether a cognitive bias influenced your choice — not to judge, but to reveal the pattern in action.
Thought Experiment
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
STEP 1 → ReadSTEP 2 → ChooseSTEP 3 → Reveal
Debrief
Proximity bias is an artifact of how brains process social information. People we see regularly are more mentally available which we misinterpret as higher competence. Evaluate by output not presence.