individuals were asked to refute an
argument that contradicted their
beliefs, those with high confidence
levels searched for the information that went against their beliefs
to form an argument against it.
However, those with low confidence
levels searched for information that
supported their personal point of
view, making little effort to address
the argument from the other side.
A confident person is therefore less
likely to be influenced by search
biases than a low confidence person. The disasterous results that
As we can see from above, wording is critical to a hypothesis, and by
making small changes the experimenters can skew the research
in their favour. By using positive
language in a question people will
look for the positives, but by using
negative language then people will
look for the negatives.
If you’re looking for a negative
aspect simply use negative language in the question and you will
have a better chance of receiving
the information you want.
For example, by asking ‘Which
of these immigrants should be
approved for a visa?’ people will
look for the positives, whereas by
asking ‘Which of these immigrants
should be declined a visa?’ people
will look for negative aspects. Not
only the wording can be a powerful influence over search biases.
Personality traits have been shown
to influence search biases too.
Selective exposure concerns how
we search for information that is
consistent or inconsistent with our
beliefs, and those who are influenced by selective exposure tend
to search for the former.
Research has shown that when
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