1.3 MYSIDE BIAS Flashcards
define myside bias
a common type of cognitive bias where people process information in a manner biased toward their own prior beliefs, opinions, and attitudes
how is myside bias different from other biases
unlike other biases, more intelligence does not protect you and it may be the reverse effect as people who are more intelligent or educated tend to have greater myside bias
what is the myside bias trap
if you are highly intelligent and strongly committed to an ideological viewpoint, you think that you’ve thought your way to that viewpoint. you are therefore less likely than an average person to realise your viewpoints are formed the same way as everyone else’s aka via innate disposition and social learning
item bias
skew towards a different underlying factor
what did the evolution item on the ordinary science intelligence test reveal
answers were not predictive of intelligence but represented/measured a bias regarding religiosity, influence of culture
culturally-biased assimilation
tendency for people to fit their perceptions of disputed facts to ones that predominate in their cultural group, people selectively credit or dismiss evidence depending on whether or not it is consistent with their group
explain why misinformation is not the reason for differences in opinions between people
people misinform themselves by changing the weighting of new evidence that is presented to them, use knowledge to re-interpret and downplay material that clashes with their group’s cultural identity.
explain why cultural identity can act as a form of pollution of knowledge [to science say]
people have a bigger stake in maintaining status within their cultural group than forming the correct scientific understandings. trade off between rational knowledge and cultural identity. people with different cultural identities can reach different conclusions based on the same material
what is meant by touchstones
certain beliefs become symbols of cultural allegiance. perhaps more divisive than facts in debates, as certain positions convey values that divide people culturally. also tell us who to blame when things go wrong
give examples of predictable touchstones in different groups
o Academic circles – left wing views
o Business circles – right wing views
o Religious values – church-influenced institutions eg schools in ireland
why is it rational to believe in the wrong things even when we know they are wrong?
o Our indiv views make no diff to the world around us
o Our views matter largely in our social group
o To express wrong opinion in group – collapse in one’s esteem, betrayal etc.
o We are all actors in the tragedy of the commons – what’s rational for an individual to believe can be irrational for society as a whole
. intelligence is irrelevant when our values/touchstone are engaged
describe two heuristics used in myside bias in order to get to a false positive effectively + quickly
motivated reasoning = pushing an argument to a favoured position rather than where it is logically going. biased evaluation = coming down harder on flaws in counter-arguments and dismissing flaws in our own arguments
describe the death penalty study, with regards to myside bias
- Those for/against death penality given fake but realistic studies which seemed to challenge their views
- Temporary support for one’s position dipped in light of the study, but then they began to find problems with the evidence
- Became more polarised – despite reading evidence that challenged their views
what did the death penalty study prove
rational knowledge does not make people see eye to eye. people seek out information to enhance their position, and not to inform themselves.
blind spot bias
the tendency to see oneself as less biased than other people. oblivion to own biases to the point of inaccuracy.
