The Psychology Factor: The Strategic Influence Challenge

Join "The Psychology Factor: The Strategic Influence Challenge", one of our IE Global Challenges & Competitions at IE University. This is a great chance to team up with other students from around the world, share ideas, and explore how psychology shapes the way we think and make decisions.

The winner of the challenge will have the opportunity to gain exclusive awards to study their bachelor degree at IE University -upon admission-!

The Psychology Factor: The Strategic Influence Challenge:

Every day, people navigate the world using mental shortcuts that influence the way we interpret information, form beliefs, predict outcomes, and evaluate ourselves and others. However, these shortcuts also lead to predictable errors, even when we believe we are being objective.

This workshop explores seven of the most powerful biases studied in behavioral science: confirmation bias, the self-fulfilling prophecy, belief perseverance, the overconfidence effect, hindsight bias, the self-serving attributional bias, and the false-consensus effect. Through dynamic examples and hands-on activities, students will discover how these mental tendencies shape perception, cognition, and behavior in contexts such as interpersonal relationships, communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution, teamwork, and social media.

In academic and scientific contexts, these same biases play a critical role in shaping research questions, data interpretation, and scientific reasoning. For instance, the confirmation bias influences how scholars selectively gather and evaluate evidence, while belief perseverance can affect how scientists respond to contradictory evidence. Likewise, the hindsight bias mirrors the post-hoc interpretations that threaten the validity of research conclusions, while overconfidence can distort statistical interpretation and prediction accuracy. Participants will examine how scholars attempt to identify, measure, and minimize these biases through rigorous methodological practices and critical thinking tools. This workshop invites participants to analyze when, how, and why these cognitive distortions emerge and to apply evidence-based strategies to recognize and counteract them.

This session is ideal for students interested in psychology, behavioral science, and evidence-based decision-making. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a deeper appreciation of when, how, and why cognitive biases arise, and will walk away with practical tools to recognize and manage these mind traps in both everyday situations and academic contexts.

Instructions on how to participate in the challenge for a chance to win an award to study at IE will be offered during the session.