The Power of Theories

Our minds are a powerful part of our bodies and can control the way we think. After researching Confirmation Bias, it is clear that our minds can trick us. I found this concept extremely interesting because people who hate to be wrong, like myself, have definitely fallen into the trap of confirmation bias. The definition of this theory is seeking out evidence to support your existing belief while disregarding any evidence that could disagree with your view or support a different argument. People who fall into this concept also interpret ambiguous information to support their belief.

Confirmation Bias was discovered in the 1960s by an English psychologist named Peter Wason, through a series of psychological experiments. These experiments showed that people tend to seek out information that confirms their existing belief. Other experiments have shown that people try to test their theories one-sided, meaning they are only looking for information to support their ideas. This can be done by positioning questions in a certain way to get different answers that ultimately say the same thing. Another term that goes along with confirmation bias is biased interpretation. This means that two people can have the same information, but they interpret it differently. Multiple experiments have been conducted to prove that this happens including an experiment from Stanford University. The experiment had people read studies about the death penalty, one case supporting it and the other arguing against it, to see if their opinions would change. After reading the studies (they didn’t know the studies were fake), almost every participant returned to their original view proving that people can interpret information in a way to support their beliefs. 

Myside bias is also a concept that goes hand-in-hand with confirmation bias. It used to be thought of as having to do with one’s intelligence but it is actually related to one’s ability to think rationally and logically. If someone has myside bias, they are not fully able to think with an open-mind and listen to another side of an argument. Confirmation bias can show up in many places, especially anxious individuals. An example is when someone has low self-esteem and is prone to feeling ignored. If that person feels like they are being ignored, they will be negatively biased towards how another person acts around them. This could have a negative effect on someone's life because it can cause them to interpret neutral information or actions as “negative” to confirm their beliefs. 

Confirmation Bias can have serious effects on aspects of everyday life such as social media, physical and mental health, and science. In the world of social media, a term called “filter bubbles” can enhance confirmation bias by showing people they are likely to agree with based on algorithms. For instance, Facebook makes almost 100% of its revenue by analyzing user data to strategically show advertisements that the user will like. Facebook’s algorithm and system use confirmation bias to basically become whatever the user wants it to be. Confirmation bias can also affect physical and mental health. People in the field of medicine used to consider a treatment successful if a patient recovered, not by looking at every reason for why this could be. A psychologist blamed confirmation bias for ineffective medical procedures that occured before scientific medicine existed. Lastly, scientists can fall into confirmation bias because they don’t want to accept information that goes against their belief. This can become dangerous because if a scientist doesn’t listen to non-supporting evidence or use it in a report, it can make their entire argument invalid which can also lead to many consequences. 

Confirmation Bias can be a hidden trap but if we can understand it, we can identify it sooner and work on not doing it. In a personal sense, confirmation bias can affect relationships with friends or family. If someone is incapable of being vulnerable and being wrong, it can have detrimental effects. Being open-minded and open to interpretation can let other people know that you care about what they are saying and will try to understand it rather than rejecting it. It can also affect one’s work because if they only look for supporting information, they will not be able to reach an unbiased conclusion that looks at all the evidence. Confirmation bias is a tricky concept that our minds fall into and can be quite powerful. Research and experiments help us today because we can better identify when confirmation bias is happening and how we can prevent it.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201504/what-is-confirmation-bias