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Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves favoring information that confirms previously existing beliefs or biases. This phenomenon occurs when people prefer information or interpret evidence in a way that is consistent with their own preconceptions, often ignoring or undervaluing contradictory data.
This bias arises because individuals tend to seek out, interpret, and remember information that supports their existing beliefs while dismissing or forgetting information that challenges them. Confirmation bias can affect various stages of information processing, including collecting new information, perceiving it, and recalling it later.
Confirmation bias can lead to poor decision-making, perpetuation of stereotypes, and the strengthening of misconceptions. It may cause polarization in social and political spheres, contribute to scientific negligence, and escalate conflicts by preventing people from understanding opposing viewpoints.
Counteracting confirmation bias involves actively seeking out diverse perspectives and challenging one's own views. Techniques include critical thinking, considering opposing information, taking the 'devil's advocate' position, and fostering environments that encourage debate and questioning assumptions.
Many critique the permeability of confirmation bias in research and discourse, arguing that it undermines objective inquiry and critical analysis. Critics emphasize the need for greater awareness and educational measures to reduce the impact of confirmation bias in science, policy, and personal decision-making.
Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises
Nickerson, R. S. (1998)
Review of General Psychology, 2(2), 175-220
Bias in Human Reasoning: Causes and Consequences
Evans, J. St. B. T. (1989)
Psychology Press
Confirmation, disconfirmation, and information in hypothesis testing
Klayman, J., & Ha, Y.-W. (1987)
Psychological Review, 94(2), 211-228