Biases in thinking and decision making - confirmation bias

Stereotypes (as an example of confirmation bias - stone et al)

What is confirmation bias?

Confirmation bias is the mental bias where people seek out information that aligns with their own thinking (their existing beliefs) that can influence thinking and decision making.

An example of confirmation bias

Stereotypes

What is a stereotype?

A stereotype is a widely held, oversimplified/generalised belief people have about people or groups.

Why is this important?

This is important because steroetypes influence our (intial/general) perception of people influencing how we make judgements about them (hence leading to confirmation bias).

Basically affects our judgements of people leading to confirmation bias

Stone et al (AIMS)

To investigate whether or not racial stereotypes affect how people judge an athletes performance.

Stone et al (PROCEDURE)

• (51 participants from Princeton)

• Each participant listened to a 20 minute recording of a college basketball game with a written transcript, then asked to rate/evaluate the performance of a specific player

• Half given an image of a white athlete, half an image of a black athlete and completed a questionnaire

Stone et al (RESULTS)

The results showed that the ‘black athletes’ were rated as “significantly more athletic” and having played a “better game”, whereas the ‘white athlete’ was rated as having had contributed through smart play and hustle (not natural athletic ability).

Stone et al (CONCLUSION)

The ratings were consistent with the stereotypes of athletes in sports (discussed in sports media), where black athletes are often perceived as more naturally athletic and skilled, while white men are more intelligent and hardworking to compensate for their lack of ‘natural athletic ability’, showing the impact of stereotypes on judgment.

—> Links to confirmation bias as depending on the race of the player the participants gave consistent ratings in relation to each races stereotypes.