Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises

1998/06/01 by Raymond S. Nickerson · 1 voice · 182 citations
Decision Sciences · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Optimism, Hope, and Well-being

paper · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175

Abstract

Confirmation bias, as the term is typically used in the psychological literature, connotes the seeking or interpreting of evidence in ways that are partial to existing beliefs, expectations, or a hypothesis in hand. The author reviews evidence of such a bias in a variety of guises and gives examples of its operation in several practical contexts. Possible explanations are considered, and the question of its utility or disutility is discussed.

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Discussions

• Second, the fact that researchers' prior beliefs correlate in some measure with research findings is a universal phenomenon across the sciences, including social sciences. There's no conspiracy. It's [bsky, 79 points, 2 comments]

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