A cognitive error, in which people deliberately seek out or accept information that confirms their worldview, while contradictory facts and information are devalued or ignored.
Selective Information Processing
People with strong confirmation biases actively seek out information to support their opinions.
As an example: Politicians who say exactly what they want to hear, or instead of critically reading a study, one only quotes a sentence from it that fits into one’s worldview.
Those who only move within like-minded circles (social media groups, online communities) constantly receive such confirmations and then consider them as evidence.
Result: One’s own perspective is seen as objective and “mainstream,” even though it is based on one-sided perception.
Confirmation biases promote thinking patterns such as: “I feel that’s the case” or “I know someone who experienced exactly that.”
Subjective experiences are then misinterpreted as evidence for a general truth.
Contradictions
Information that contradicts is devalued or interpreted differently.
“The study was bought” or “Mainstream media lie or don’t report on it.”
Scientific corrections are seen as manipulation, so the contradiction is integrated into one’s own narrative.
People with a strong confirmation bias genuinely believe in their truth and try to prove it because they:
- selectively perceive
- emotionally argue
- explain away the contradiction
They provide no reliable evidence, but they offer a very convincing inner sense of security.
