The Ostrich Problem
Sarah Jons 
There will be plenty of people over the Christmas and New Year period whom will not check their online bank balance, despite wanting to be in control
Question: Why do Ostriches stick their head in the sand? Answer: They don’t.
There will be plenty of people over the Christmas and New Year period whom will not check their online bank balance, despite wanting to be in control of their money. If your bank balance is going into the red, you wouldn’t be the first to deliberately avoid a statement and scientists now think they know why. Interestingly they call it (wrongly) the Ostrich Problem.
The much maligned common ostrich (Struthio camelus) is a species of large flightless birds native to Africa. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs, and can run at up to about 70 km/h (19 m/s; 43 mph), the fastest land speed of any bird. Despite holding the title of the largest living birds; they stand 7 to 9 feet tall when fully grown and their heads are relatively small. This is important because from a distance, ostriches nibbling at food on the ground may appear to have their heads in the dirt.
The expression bury your head in the sand apparently comes from the supposed habit of ostriches hiding their heads when faced with an attack by predators. The story was first recorded by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder. But the more likely root of this claim has to do with ostriches’ nests. Male ostriches dig a size able hole up to 6 to 8 feet wide and 2 to 3 feet deep, which is plenty big for their puny heads—in which to stow the eggs. During the incubation period, both parent ostrich take turns rotating the eggs with their beaks, a task that requires them to submerge their heads into the nest, thereby creating the illusion that their heads are buried in the sand.
An interesting take on this story (without much support, however) is that ostriches are not smart and believe that if they can’t see their attackers then the attackers can’t see them. Of all the many forms of protest over the years, this head-in-the-sand action is the most inspiring. In beaches and in sand piles across the world in 2014 protestors buried their heads to draw attention to the inaction of world leaders on climate change and the outright denial by many about the existence and extent of the problem.
We tend to bury our heads in the sand because we feel guilty when confronted with reality, say psychologists led by Dr Thomas Webb at the University of Sheffield. The study, published in the Social and Personality Psychology Compass journal, suggests that people are actively motivated to avoid information. Dr Webb says that promoting lasting changes in behaviour is one of the most significant challenges facing science and society. His four-year project, which ends in 2015, seeks to understand why people avoid monitoring their goal progress and, by so doing, find ways to promote monitoring and help people to achieve goals. Dr Webb also cites a 2012 survey which found that only 10 per cent of people who worry about their finances daily check their bank balance at least once a month.This active ignoring of information about one’s current standing relative to one’s goals is part of popular culture, yet current scientific perspectives assume that people will actively monitor and seek information on their progress. They call this the ‘Ostrich Problem’ ignoring the obvious biological and physiological errors.
Despite evidence that self monitoring can be good for us (classically stepping on the scales when trying to lose weight) there are times when individuals intentionally avoid such information.The researchers think people ignore what is going on around them to avoid negative feelings, often of guilt, that accompany being presented with reality. Dr Webb said: ‘The Ostrich Problem is the idea that there are times when people would rather not know how they’re doing.’ Avoiding monitoring may allow people to escape from negative feelings associated with an accurate appraisal of progress. The socalled Ostrich Problem includes situations in which people receive relevant information but intentionally fail to evaluate the implications for their goal progress – in other words, they reject the information. It concluded that the Ostrich Problem is now part of popular culture, giving rise to the terms bury your head in the sand and ignorance is bliss. Just remember the wonderful quotation from Martin Niemoeller,
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no-one left to speak for me.
The need for creative and committed leadership, sustained over the long haul, has never been greater. There is not just a need to get others to pull their heads out of the sand but for each of us to wonder about the warm dark places we burrow into.
Heads up!
Webb, T. L., Chang, B., & Benn, Y. (2013). “The ostrich problem”: Motivated avoidance or rejection of information on goal progress. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(11), 794-807. DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12071 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spc3.12071/pdf
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