← all facts
bias
You selectively interpret facts to protect your existing worldview.
A 1979 study found that participants shown balanced evidence on capital punishment were convinced their original stance had been correct all along.
Rather than evaluating evidence neutrally, we use it to fortify our current position. Confirmatory information is accepted as 'solid' while contrary data is picked apart for flaws. This ensures your beliefs remain essentially unshakeable regardless of new information.
You are not looking for truth; you are looking for evidence that you were right.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Lord, Ross, and Lepper, 1979, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- What the check found
- The study is a foundational, peer-reviewed experiment in social psychology. The lack of a quote in the provided reference does not invalidate the study's existence or its widely accepted findings.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.