Cognitive Dissonance, Motivated Reasoning, and Confirmation Bias: Applications in Industrial Organization

Stone, Daniel; Wood, Daniel H.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2834072

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…In case there is any dissonance between evidence displayed and prior beliefs, the theory of motivated reasoning states that decision‐makers, guided by directional goals, tend to downplay or disregard the evidence that contradicts their prior beliefs. Motivated reasoning is therefore the link between cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias where decision‐makers actively search for evidence that supports their prior beliefs (Stone and Wood 2018).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Development Of Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buying from Local Providers: The Role of Governance Preferences in Assessing Performance Information

Lerusse

Walle

2022

Public Administration Review

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Governance preferences influence how public officials process performance data about service providers. Based on motivated reasoning theory, we examine the extent to which local delivery preferences—preferences for contracting with local service providers over contracting with non‐local ones—influence public managers' and politicians' interpretation of performance data. We firstly expect public officials to misinterpret evidence that contradicts their local delivery preferences and we, secondly, hypothesize that politicians are more prone to biases than public managers are. We test these hypotheses by conducting a randomized survey experiment among 4,000 public officials in Belgium. The results indicate that public officials tend to show a bias for local providers, but not for non‐local providers. Yet, we found no significant differences between politicians and public managers. Our study provides new evidence about the influence of governance preferences on the interpretation of performance information, and calls into question its effective use by politicians and public managers.

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Section: Theoretical Framework and Development Of Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buying from Local Providers: The Role of Governance Preferences in Assessing Performance Information

Lerusse

Walle

2022

Public Administration Review

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“…Indeed, the authors of one study proposed that participants engaged in motivated reasoning processes when interpreting ambiguous numerical ranges (Dieckmann et al, 2017). Further, cognitive dissonance can elicit motivated reasoning (Stone & Wood, 2018). For example, it is possible that individuals feel cognitive dissonance from receiving conflicting information (i.e., they feel discomfort from conflicting thoughts that vaccines are effective but they are not sure whether a new COVID-19 vaccine will be effective), so they lower their perception of risk as part of motivated reasoning to resolve their cognitive dissonance and justify their avoidance behavior (i.e., "It's unlikely that I will get this illness, and if I do, it won't be that bad, so I do not have to get this vaccine").…”

Section: Effects Of Ambiguous Versus Unambiguous Health Information About Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Impact of Ambiguous Health Messages about COVID-19

Simonovic

Taber

2021

J Behav Med

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COVID-19 & Anti-Mask Movement: How Jingoism is Bringing the United States Down

Kim¹,

Oh²

2021

J Stud Res

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The objective of this study was to provide insight into the anti-mask phenomenon that has been occurring throughout the world. Widely broadcasted through different forms of media, these anti-mask movements are a growing concern to the scientific community, as such exposure will only deter the progress towards ending the pandemic. In order to understand the psychological motivations behind the anti-mask sentiment, the present studies 29 videos, over 120 minutes of content covering anti-mask protests in Canada, Europe, and the United States. I also used East Asia as a control variable, as I reviewed 5 videos, around 35 minutes of footage to understand the psychology that makes East Asia more receptive towards mask use. By implementing a qualitative research design, I looked for key language themes (interviews, chants, signs) in order to apply thematic analysis to connect their negative sentiments that are associated with confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. Findings regarding confirmation bias and motivated reasoning have been linked to concerns regarding personal rights and distrust with the government, media, and science communities. In particular, the United States has an issue regarding national pride in connection to individuals’ personal rights. The goal is to give insight into ways the United States can improve mask adherence for future potential pandemics.

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Cognitive Dissonance, Motivated Reasoning, and Confirmation Bias: Applications in Industrial Organization

Cited by 4 publications

References 66 publications

Buying from Local Providers: The Role of Governance Preferences in Assessing Performance Information

Buying from Local Providers: The Role of Governance Preferences in Assessing Performance Information

Psychological Impact of Ambiguous Health Messages about COVID-19

COVID-19 & Anti-Mask Movement: How Jingoism is Bringing the United States Down

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