The Ostrich Effect

By Donna Glass, JD | Living & Legacy Business Solutions

October 5, 2026

There's a behavioral economics term for burying your head in the sand, and it's exactly as on the nose as it sounds: the ostrich effect.

In plain terms, it's avoiding information because you'd rather not deal with what it might tell you.

In business terms, it's the plan you keep meaning to get to, the document you know needs updating, the conversation you keep finding a reason to postpone.

Understandable, too. The comfort is real, but it's temporary. What doesn't get looked at doesn't go away. It just moves into the background and quietly costs you sleep, attention, and peace of mind.

Ostriches don't actually bury their heads in the sand. That's a myth. However, the visual of what they are doing fits something people do figuratively every day.

Term origin: Karlsson, N., Loewenstein, G., & Seppi, D. (2009). The Ostrich Effect: Selective Attention to Information. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 38, 95–115.