Cognitive bias / avoidance behavior / decision-making metaphor

Ostrich Policy

Do not hide from bad news. Check the facts early, because reality charges interest.

Popularity

Usefulness

Aliases

Ostrich Effect / Ostrich Problem / Head-in-the-sand approach / Ostrichism

Domains

Economics, behavioral finance, management, psychology, public policy, risk management

Definition

Ostrich Policy means deliberately ignoring obvious problems, risks, or unpleasant facts and acting as if they do not exist. It is based on the common but false image of an ostrich hiding its head in the sand when facing danger. (Wiktionary)

Avoiding bad information may reduce short-term anxiety, but it usually increases long-term risk because decisions are made without confronting reality.

A person, team, company, or government faces uncomfortable information.
Instead of checking, discussing, or acting on it, they avoid the information.
This avoidance creates temporary emotional relief.
The underlying problem remains unresolved and may become worse.
In behavioral finance, the related Ostrich Effect describes investors avoiding negative financial information. (JSTOR)

A company notices early signs of cybersecurity weakness but avoids auditing its systems because the result may be costly or embarrassing. This is an ostrich policy because the organization avoids reality instead of managing the risk.

Example: Investors may avoid checking their portfolios or financial accounts when markets are falling or when the information is likely to be negative.
Why it fits this rule: The person avoids useful but unpleasant information, choosing temporary comfort over informed decision-making.
Verification status: Partly verified as a research-supported behavioral pattern under the related term Ostrich Effect, especially in behavioral finance and goal-monitoring research. (IDEAS/RePEc)

Ignoring financial losses, debt, or declining revenue.
Avoiding medical checkups because the result may be worrying.
Refusing to review poor customer feedback.
Delaying risk assessment in business, cybersecurity, safety, or compliance.
Governments or institutions refusing to address visible social, economic, or environmental problems.

Do not use it for cases where someone lacks access to information; ostrich policy usually implies avoidable ignorance.
Do not confuse it with simple optimism; optimism expects improvement, while ostrich policy avoids evidence.
Do not overuse it for every delay or mistake; it specifically refers to ignoring known or knowable problems.
The animal basis is metaphorical, not zoological: ostriches do not actually bury their heads in sand to avoid danger. ([San Diego

Invented by: Unknown for the general idiom Ostrich Policy.
Year of invention: Unknown for the general idiom. The related research term Ostrich Effect was used by Dan Galai and Orly Sade in work circulated in 2003 and published in 2006. (SSRN)
Country / context of origin: Exact idiom origin is unclear. The modern research usage is strongly associated with behavioral finance, especially investor behavior and information avoidance.

Dan Galai and Orly Sade used the term Ostrich Effect to describe investor behavior linked to avoiding risk-related information in financial markets. (JSTOR)
Niklas Karlsson, George Loewenstein, and Duane Seppi studied selective attention to financial information and connected it to the ostrich effect. (IDEAS/RePEc)
Thomas Webb, Betty Chang, and Yael Benn reviewed the Ostrich Problem, describing cases where people avoid or reject information about goal progress. (Wiley Online Library)
Later research found that reasons for not monitoring progress include beliefs that information may be inaccurate, not useful, or emotionally uncomfortable. (White Rose Research Online)

Do not hide from bad news. Check the facts early, because reality charges interest.