Blog #10

2nd EOTO: Confirmation Bias 

By: Meagan Flynn

April 22, 2021

When I first heard about Confirmation Bias, I was not exactly sure what the term was. I researched on Britannica and realized it was self explanatory. The main definition of confirmation bias is the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s existing beliefs. It is largely unintentional and often results in ignoring inconsistent information as well as people are likely to process information to support their own beliefs when the issue is highly important or self-relevant. In the basics, how humans sometimes process information in an illogical, biased manner is humans have difficulty processing information in a rational, unbiased manner once they have developed an opinion about the issue. Why humans are susceptible to confirmation bias is it is an efficient way to process information and people cannot possibly take the time to carefully process each piece of information to form an unbiased conclusion. People need to process information quickly to protect themselves from harm, self esteem, and receive accuracy. It is adaptive to rely on instinctive, automatic reflexes that keep humans out of harm’s way. People wants to feel good about themselves and feel intelligent.

Confirmation bias is all about thinking about oneself. We never notice that we are practicing confirmation bias because it is common in our daily human lives. We don't take the time to think about what is to be said next. Even if we don't think we are selfish, it is in our everyday lives in which we don't notice. We want to protect ourselves at all costs which refers to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. As humans, we need specific things to survive and because of evolution, we have reflexes to survive each day. No matter how unselfish we appear to be, there is always going to some type of selfish ways since our point in life is to survive on this earth. Relating to society, no matter where we are and what we are doing, there is confirmation bias going through our heads. We are on social media, talking to friends and family, and living our lives everyday in which selfish ways can come across and ruin reputations.

In the evidence of confirmation bias, the context of decision-making is once an individual makes a decision, he or she will look for information that supports it. Information that conflicts with the decision may cause discomfort and ignored or given little consideration. My side-bias is when people were able to generate and remember more reasons supporting their side of a controversial issue than the opposing side. People give special treatment to information that supports their personal beliefs.

According to philosophers, people generate arguments against their own beliefs. Also, people tend to look for positive instances in which they confirm their hypotheses is true. We operate in impression formation which we look for information that meets expectations. For example, when we meet a new friend, if we hear that they like the color purple, then we look for instances where they like the color to confirm our expectation.

In the importance of confirmation bias, it may lead people to hold strongly to false beliefs or to give more weight to information that supports their beliefs than is warranted by the evidence. In the real world, it happens to doctors and can influence outcomes and expectations. For example, "Doctors often have a preliminary hunch regarding the diagnosis of a medical condition early in the treatment process. This hunch can interfere with considering information that may indicate an alternative diagnosis is more likely." Also, in society, it can influence our replies on social media as looking selfish as we do not consider the other side. Confirmation bias can effect making friends and on society as it has grown to be more accepting to everyone of all backgrounds, ages, sexual standpoint, and more. It needs to take effect on the new generation with social media and think before putting opinions out there.

Confirmation Bias needs to be more known worldwide. No one is perfect in this world and it's obvious. We strive to protect ourselves on the daily, but our mind can be more powerful than ever. Today with social media and putting our thoughts online, we should always think before saying or typing. We should live by the golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. However, it's good to know that we can protect ourselves, but we need to consider the other side to compromise and be thoughtful of friends and family. We will lose friends if we are all about ourselves. Confirmation bias is not about just being selfish, but it is that we don't recognize it and it is necessary to see the unintentional bias and be commonly aware of everything in front of us.