An interviewer is asking people on the street questions about the mayor of their town.He tells them that the new mayor has a PhD in sociology,has specialized in women's and gender studies,and has published several research papers in peer-reviewed journals.The interviewer presents them with two situations and asks which one of them is more probable.He asks them if it is more probable that the mayor is a women's rights activist,or a politician who is also a college professor.If the interviewees pick the first situation,which error in judgement are they committing?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The interviewees are committing the conjunction fallacy, which is the tendency to assume that specific conditions are more probable than general ones. In this case, being a women's rights activist is a specific condition that is a subset of the general condition of being a politician who is also a college professor. Therefore, the former is less probable than the latter.

An Interviewer Is Asking People on the Street Questions About