What is confirmation bias?

We have all, at some point in our lives, encountered people who are stubborn, inflexible and sensitive to evidence contrary to what they think. On the other hand, defending our thoughts, beliefs and ideas is understandable if we understand that in the end they are a part of what makes us who we are.

The interesting thing is not so much that we castle ourselves in our belief systems, but that we also seek and prioritize the information that fits what we think. What is it and why does this phenomenon occur?

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias that manifests itself in our mental life. when we search, interpret and remember information that confirms our hypotheses and the expectations we have generated from them.

The information that we access or that we construct to confirm our position also aims to protect us from the feeling of insecurity (Oswald and Grosjean, 2004).

We are talking about a very common bias that we can identify, if we look carefully, in many everyday situations: when we go shopping and purchase a product that we think we need and we think about all the reasons that justify its purchase; when we are convinced that a certain political candidate is the best option and we only pay attention to related media.

Filter and prioritize information

Confirmation bias prioritizes information that is consistent with what we believe and what we expect. above that which turns out to be incongruent. How can this happen? Oswald and Grosjean (2004) propose three ways:

Making access to memories congruent with the hypothesis more likely than to memories that are incongruent with it. Giving more importance to congruent information, due to concentration on hypotheses and neglect of other alternative explanations. Avoiding sources of information that may invalidate the hypotheses or explanations that are supported.

Confirmation bias verifies observations made by cognitive psychology: information that is consistent with our schemas is encoded and remembered more easily than that which is inconsistent.

Why are we susceptible to confirmation bias?

Baumeister and Vohs (2007) offer three reasons to understand why we are so enthusiastic about confirmation bias:

1. It is an efficient way to process information

Sometimes, the information we have to process is very complex and we need ways to help us understand it. One of them consists of trying to fit what is new onto what we already know. Thus, trying to fit some pieces with others, At a cognitive level, it is much more costly to question one’s own idea than another that has just come to us.

On the other hand, we trust our past self and assume that it was critical at the time and tested that idea before incorporating it into the belief system. Thus, if we spent the day questioning our entire belief system over and over again, we would move forward much more surely, but also slowly.

2. Protect self-esteem

Many ideas that fit our belief system can make us feel very bad. Imagine that you have been defending for years that tobacco does not harm your health, that a family member or a very dear friend falls ill and the doctor is very clear that one of the precipitants has been precisely tobacco. How would you feel if you had been the one who had defended its consumption again and again?

3. It makes us think we are smarter

People prefer to feel that we are smart and information that suggests we have an erroneous belief can show us just the opposite.

In addition to these three reasons proposed by Baumeister and Vohs (2007), we can also identify a fourth, no less important than the previous ones.

4. Reduces cognitive dissonance

Confirmation bias helps us avoid or reduce cognitive dissonance, that is, tension or discomfort due to “the existence of relationships between cognitions that do not agree” (Festinger, 1957).

Facing information, hypotheses or explanations that contradict our convictions is a source of cognitive dissonance. that we will avoid to avoid facing our contradictory nature.

Confirmation bias and other cognitive processes

This cognitive bias does not occur independently of mental processes; What’s more, it interacts with them, biasing the processing of information in such a way that they end up confirming our ideas. Next, we will see the relationship between confirmation bias and some cognitive processes:

Decision making and confirmation bias

When we are sure of our convictions, we try to make decisions consistent with them. We try to make decisions that reinforce who we are, aligned with our identity. Making a decision that contradicts our fundamentals would dilute its meaning.

The memory

Confirmation bias not only influences what we search for, but also what we remember. When remembering we filter information and during this process, bias can cause us to involuntarily select what confirms our conceptions.

Memory is not an isolated process and immune to bias, since it is easily influenced by the circumstances of the moment, by what we think, believe and hope.

The IFimpressions

Confirmation bias also causes us to behave in a special way towards others. Thus, if we think that someone is not friendly, we may not take too much care when addressing them. We are anticipating that the other person will answer us badly, and he will be more likely to do so if we start by not being nice.

If a person is told what to expect from another person they are about to meet, such as being introverted, kind, or respectful, they will look for information that supports these expectations.

Recommendations to combat confirmation bias

It is advisable to be aware of this bias and know how to limit its influence when we want. A good strategy to do this is consider opposites, that is, forcing oneself to take into account information that contradicts what we assume (Koriat et al., 1980).

Considering evidence that contradicts our beliefs broadens the horizon of our knowledge and invites us to reflect on what we take for granted. Other recommendations that we can find are the following (Glick, 2017):

Take a more skeptical approach.Try ask more insightful questions.Look for weaknesses in your beliefs.Accept that you are going to have to live with uncertainty or ambiguity.Consider whether something is really true or whether you just want it to be true. Wishes are big enhancers of confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias is one of the most typical biases. The way it makes us process information allows our ideals to be confirmed and reinforced over and over again.

It also provides certainty, even if sometimes illusory, and convinces us that things, situations, people and the world are as we believe them to be. On certain occasions, it can be a bad ally, but on other occasions, it can save us mental energy.

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