Anticriteria

Anticriteria are evaluative standards used in decision making to rule out options that fail to meet essential non-negotiable conditions. They function as negative constraints that complement positive criteria by identifying disqualifying attributes or outcomes rather than desirable ones.

In practice, anticriteria help to reduce the set of viable options at an early stage. They establish hard boundaries—conditions that must not be violated—for a solution to be considered. By clearly articulating anticriteria, decision makers can avoid pursuing options that would later prove unacceptable, saving time and reducing risk. Anticriteria can be explicit, written as prohibitions or thresholds, or implicit, derived from legal, ethical, or practical constraints.

Anticriteria come in several forms. Explicit anticriteria state non-negotiables such as budget ceilings, compliance requirements, safety standards, or time limits. Negative criteria describe what an option must not possess or achieve, while veto conditions are strong anticriteria that automatically disqualify options meeting a particular flag. In some contexts, anticriteria are dynamic, evolving with new information about risks, dependencies, or stakeholder values.

Common applications occur in project selection, policy evaluation, hiring, procurement, and algorithm design. For example, a project might be rejected if the cost exceeds the budget or if it would violate regulatory standards; a hiring process might exclude candidates lacking valid work authorization. While anticriteria help prevent poor choices, they should be applied consistently and transparently to avoid bias and ensure alignment with overall goals. In some literatures, anticriteria are referred to as veto criteria or disqualifiers.