“The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.” – George Bernard Shaw
Confirmation bias causes us to:
- Seek out evidence and information to support our beliefs
- Avoid/ignore/reject any evidence or information that might challenge or threaten our beliefs
- Interpret and recall even ambiguous and neutral information as being supportive of our beliefs
“Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe.” – Steven Hoffman
Confirmation bias affects every area of your life:
- The type of information you seek out and accept as true
- The people you choose to listen to and pay attention to
- How you interpret ambiguous information
- How you recall information. Not only are you more likely to recall information that supports your beliefs, but you’re also more likely to recall even ambiguous and neutral information as being supportive of your beliefs
- The questions you ask and how you ask them (interviewers and journalists often show their confirmation bias by asking leading questions in an attempt to get the answers they’re looking for “don’t you think…?” or “Isn’t it true that…?”)
- If you think someone is an asshole, dishonest, untrustworthy etc. you’ll seek out evidence to confirm it, and you’ll ignore any evidence that suggests they’re not
- If you think negatively towards a certain race, religion, or sex, you’ll seek out evidence to confirm it, and you’ll ignore any evidence that points to the opposite
Confirmation bias can be caused by other people too. If someone plants a negative idea in your head about someone else “I definitely wouldn’t trust that guy if I were you” (this is known as poisoning the well), or if the media does a hatchet job on someone, it’s common for your mind to seek out – and even to create – reasons to support that belief too.