What is motivated reasoning simple definition?

Motivated reasoning is the phenomenon in cognitive science and social psychology in which emotional biases lead to justifications or decisions based on their desirability rather than an accurate reflection of the evidence.

What is motivated reasoning vs confirmation bias?

In short, confirmation bias is an implicit tendency to notice information that coincides with our preexisting beliefs and ignore information that doesn’t while motivated reasoning is our tendency to readily accept new information that agrees with our worldview and critically analyze that which doesn’t.

Why do we use motivated reasoning?

Individuals engage in motivated reasoning as a way to avoid or lessen cognitive dissonance, the mental discomfort people experience when confronted by contradictory information, especially on matters that directly relate to their comfort, happiness, and mental health.

What is motivated reasoning in business?

Motivated reasoning occurs when we use reasoning not to discover what’s really true but to justify the conclusion we prefer. You can avoid motivated reasoning by imagining your decisions will be made public or by bringing others into your decision-making process.

What are some of the processes and behaviors that characterize motivated reasoning?

They include dynamics such as biased information search, which involves seeking out (or disproportionally attending to) evidence that is congruent rather than incongruent with the motivating goal; biased assimilation, which refers to the tendency to credit and discredit evidence selectively in patterns that promote …

What is motivational bias?

Motivational biases, sometimes referred to as ‘self-serving’ biases, result from being invested in a specific outcome (e.g. a particular treatment being successful) (see Bazerman and Moore129 for discussion).

Is motivated reasoning unconscious?

1. To begin, motivated cognition refers to the unconscious tendency of individuals to fit their processing of information to conclusions that suit some end or goal. Consider a classic example.

What is motivated processing?

Motivated Processing: How People Perceive News Covering Novel or Contradictory Health Research Findings.

What is motivated perception?

The term motivated perception refers to the process by which people’s active desires, needs, and motivations shape their perceptual experiences (Balcetis & Dunning, 2006; Dunning & Balcetis, 2013; see also Bruner, 1957).