Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias refers to our tendency to search for, interpret and recall information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs and ideas. Our brain likes shortcuts, generalizations and patterns, and confirmation bias is one of the side effects of this. It makes things easier for our brain to see a pattern and make a generalisation. We will often selectively seek out evidence that lines up with our preconceived notions. It’s stronger for emotionally charged issued.
Take this example of Tom speaking to Mary:
‘’You’re always drinking beer! Every time you switch on the TV you grab a beer!’’
Due to confirmation bias, Tom will pay more attention to Mary when she is watching TV and drinking, as it confirms his worldview of her. In turn, we will ignore the times 1) Mary switched on the TV and didn’t grab a beer 2) the times Mary had a beer but wasn’t watching TV and 3) the times Mary wasn’t watching TV and wasn’t drinking beer.
Confirmation bias contributes to being overconfident with our personal beliefs as we often dismiss evidence contrary to our belief. We search for information that confirms what we already think. We can confirm our beliefs through choosing friends with similar worldviews or the news we choose to consume.
Confirmation bias influences our view of others:
Lets say you live in a share house and $50 goes missing.
You never liked your flat mate Sam and you think it was him who took your money. You accuse him of taking the money and Sam gets upset, and irritable, denying it.
As your worldview is that you don’t like Sam, you may see this as further evidence he took it (‘’why’d he get so upset if he wasn’t guilty?’’).
However, let’s say your friend Alex thinks Sam is a nice person and thinks you’re often quite forgetful and probably misplaced the money. He may interpret Sam’s reaction different (‘’anyone would be upset being accused of stealing money’’).
In that way you have confirmed your worldview of Sam, and Alex as confirmed his worldview of Sam.
Confirmation bias influences our view of ourselves:
If we think we are good enough and someone enters our lives who puts us down, we are more likely to let that toxic person go from our life than if we have a belief already that we aren’t good enough.
How to overcome confirmation bias:
The major step to overcoming confirmation bias is awareness. Acknowledging that you are not always right, and genuinely trying to keep an open mind to new information can be really hard for our brains. You must be okay with people who disagree with you and listening to their perspectives. Actively look for evidence your belief could be wrong about a type of person or a typical situation can be really helpful to contradict confirmation bias.
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