Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.
Examples
- Seeking out news sources that align with your political views
- Interpreting ambiguous evidence as supporting your existing position
- Remembering hits and forgetting misses when evaluating a belief
Why It Happens
The brain prefers consistency and reduces cognitive load by favoring information that fits existing mental models. Challenging one’s beliefs requires more mental effort.
How to Counteract
- Actively seek disconfirming evidence
- Play devil’s advocate with your own views
- Ask “What would change my mind?”