Behavioral concept graphic

Planning fallacy

The planning fallacy is the tendency for people to underestimate how long a task will take and the resources required to complete that task. This tendency is true even when people have previous experiences with the task under consideration. This fallacy is highly related to one's optimism bias, as people assume tasks will not take them the same amount of time that others require to complete it.

Relevant Academic Papers
  • Buehler, R., Griffin, D., & Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the" planning fallacy": Why people underestimate their task completion times. Journal of personality and social psychology, 67(3), 366.