Distinction bias
The tendency to see two options as more different when we look at them side by side than when we experience them one at a time. Small differences that seem huge in comparison often don't matter in daily life.
In everyday life
In a store with TVs lined up next to each other, a shopper pays much more for a slightly sharper picture they would never notice at home.
You agonize between two job offers because one has a commute five minutes shorter, a gap you would never notice once you actually worked there.
Why your mind does this
Our senses and judgment work by comparison. Noticing differences from a starting point, or from what came just before, is faster and cheaper than measuring things in absolute terms, and changes are often what signal danger or opportunity.
Its family, in 30 seconds: Change
How to spot it
Ask yourself whether you would notice this difference if you only ever had one of the options.
How to counter it
Picture living with each option on its own for a month, and judge it by how satisfied you would be.
Same family: Change
SourcesHsee & Zhang (2004)·Wikipedia