The heart trumps the head: Desirability bias in political belief revision.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how individuals revise their political beliefs has important implications for society. In a preregistered study (N = 900), we experimentally separated the predictions of 2 leading theories of human belief revision-desirability bias and confirmation bias-in the context of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Participants indicated who they desired to win, and who they believed would win, the election. Following confrontation with evidence that was either consistent or inconsistent with their desires or beliefs, they again indicated who they believed would win. We observed a robust desirability bias-individuals updated their beliefs more if the evidence was consistent (vs. inconsistent) with their desired outcome. This bias was independent of whether the evidence was consistent

SUBMITTER: Tappin BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5536309 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature