Omission bias
The tendency to judge harmful actions as worse than equally harmful failures to act. Harm that follows from doing nothing feels less like our fault, even when the outcome is the same or worse.
In everyday life
Some parents skip a vaccine for their child because a rare side effect would feel like their doing, even when the disease itself poses the greater risk.
You'd feel awful if you urged a friend to leave their job and it went badly, yet you feel fine saying nothing while they stay in a job that is clearly wearing them down.
Why your mind does this
We take in far more than we can handle, so the brain uses what is already active in memory as a filter. Things we met recently, often, or with strong feeling are likely to matter again, so pushing them forward saves time and effort.
Its family, in 30 seconds: Primed & repeated
How to spot it
Ask yourself whether doing nothing is actually safer here, or whether it just feels less blameworthy.
How to counter it
Write out the likely outcomes of acting and of not acting side by side, and judge them by results alone.
Same family: Primed & repeated
SourcesRitov & Baron (1990)·Wikipedia