A computational framework for distinguishing motivated reasoning and practical rationality

Abstract

People are motivated to maintain their beliefs, often leading them to ignore or reinterpret information to support what they think. What psychological mechanisms give rise to this phenomenon, and how can we distinguish the impact of motivation on people's beliefs from other less nefarious causes which may nonetheless produce similar behavior? Here, we introduce a computational modeling framework for distinguishing motivated reasoning and practical rationality -- rationality that concerns what acts one should take rather than what one should believe. We demonstrate how the framework works in a series of simulations and highlight its implications for measuring the impact of motivation on beliefs.