(9) EOTO #2: Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias, according to Britannica, is "people's tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs. So when you are in a battle between two people, you tend to only look for information that will back up your side and contradict the opposing side. Not looking for other sources, your judgment can sometimes be affected by this.

Pros and Cons of Confirmation Bias

While mostly viewed negatively, confirmation bias offers several psychological benefits. For example, it eases psychological stress by minimizing the discomfort that comes from confronting conflicting beliefs or information. By reinforcing our beliefs, we tend to boost our self-esteem because it provides a sense of being right or in control. The feeling of understanding your environment aids in making quicker choices when you are in desperate times. This mental shortcut allows us to process information faster because it is associated with our beliefs we've already held. 

Despite its psychological benefits, confirmation bias comes with a multitude of disadvantages. When confirmation bias is involved, one key issue that you can't hide is the misjudgment that 50% of the people make.  Rather than objectively considering all sides of an issue,  people prioritize information that aligns with their beliefs. This habit can narrow our worldviews and make engaging with diverse perspectives or adapting to new information harder. In group settings, confirmation bias contributes to the topic of groupthink. Groupthink is the desire for harmony and conformity that overrides critical thinking, ending in poor decision-making. In the medical setting, confirmation bias can lead to inaccurate or even unethical conclusions by prioritizing evidence that backs up your decision, potentially harming your crew or even the patient.

Flawed decisions due to confirmation bias have been found in a wide range of political, organizational, financial, and scientific contexts. These biases can sustain or reinforce views in the midst of opposing information and lead to an overconfidence in one's own views. In the case study focusing on misinformation being spread through technology from Frontiers in Public Health, confirmation bias demonstrated reduced susceptibility to misinformation and increased ability to determine if something is true or false.

Rich v. Poor

People often underestimate how much wealth is held by the top 1%, a bias influenced by "scope insensitivity," which makes them less responsive to extreme numbers and downplays inequality. Additionally, people who mistakenly believe they're better off may support redistribution policies, while system justification theory explains how societies with high inequality can normalize large income gaps to preserve the status quo.

Men v. Women

Men tend to overestimate their abilities due to overconfidence, often rating their performance much higher than it actually was, and defend their views more strongly in independent decisions. In contrast, women show less confirmation bias in decision-making and are more focused on accuracy, though societal stereotypes can still influence how they interpret feedback and opportunities. For example, research indicates that men consistently rate their past performance about 30% higher than it actually was, whereas women rate theirs about 15% higher.

Young v. Old

Teenagers are more susceptible to false memory formation due to a more liberal response bias, linked to the ongoing development of brain regions responsible for decision-making and memory. Adults, especially older ones, show a stronger correspondence bias, often attributing behaviors to internal traits rather than situational factors, influenced by their beliefs about the consistency between attitudes and behaviors.

Majority v. Minority

Members of majority groups often experience a "false uniqueness effect," underestimating the prevalence of their own group's behaviors and beliefs, which can lead to an inflated sense of superiority. The minority group members are more likely to exhibit a "false consensus effect," overestimating how many others share their beliefs, fostering group solidarity but potentially leading to misperceptions about broader societal views

Effects on Me

This leads to me looking at information that supports my beliefs, and in return, I may dismiss helpful information that can back up my claims more. For family, it can reinforce generational beliefs/traditional beliefs. By following traditional beliefs in the health aspect, we usually dismiss scientific diagnoses and return to what they did in the past to help people. In friend groups, it causes an echo chamber effect, which reinforces my beliefs in a group setting, but it prevents us from having honest conversations because no one wants to be the odd man out.