Illusory Correlation

By Brad Bell

Illusory correlation is an important concept in psychology.  It is
important to define illusory correlation.  What is an illusory
correlation?  Below is a definition of illusory correlation.

Illusory Correlation Definition

An illusory correlation is a belief that two things are associated
when there is no actual association.

Illusory Correlation Examples

There are a number of possible examples of an illusory correlation.  
Below are two illusory correlation examples:

1.    A person catches many fish in one place at a lake.  After that day,
the person believes that the place where he or she caught many fish is a place where there are more fish than at other places at the lake.  However, it is possible that it is actually just a chance event.

2.    On a vacation, a person travels to a city that she or he had not
visited before and a few people there are rude to the person.  The
person concludes that the people in this city are generally ruder than people in many other cities.  However, this may just reflect random events.