Backfire Effect

The backfire effect is the strengthening of a mistaken belief when presented with contrary evidence.

It appears that when people are heavily invested in their original views, contrary evidence is perceived as an attack on themselves and the decision they made. All new supportive evidence is accepted and contrary evidence rejected.

The backfire effect has been seen in efforts to counter racism and sexism.

Nyhan (2021) notes that the backfire effect does not explain the durability of political misperceptions and suggests other ways to weaken misperceptions about political and scientific information.

Read more about the backfire effect in research by Nyhan and Reifler (2010) and Nyhan (2021). 

Nyhan, B. (2021). Why the backfire effect does not explain the durability of political misperceptions. PNAS. 118 (15) e1912440117; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912440117

Nyhan, B., Reifler, J. When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions. Polit Behav 32, 303–330 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9112-2

Key concepts

misperception, backfire effect, misinformation, fake news, fact checking

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Divine Attribution Bias Positive, Negative

 Divine Attribution Biases may be positive or negative. 

A Positive Divine Attribution Bias exists when acts considered good are routinely attributed to God or divine intervention while minimising or ignoring more plausible causes.  PDAB

A Negative Divine Attribution Bias exists when a person attributes unpleasant or harmful events to divine intervention as if God or a divine being were punishing people for their sinful or unacceptable behaviour while minimising or ignoring more plausible explanations. NDAB

Examples 

Positive bias: A parking space opens up as one is searching. A positive Divine Attribution Bias is evident when the driver asserts that God, in a role of personal assistant, provided this parking convenience.

Negative bias: A tornado destroys a large part of a city. A negative Divine Attribution Bias exists when someone insists that the event was God’s punishment on the people for sins in the community.

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

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Attribution Bias

 In social psychology, an attribution bias is a tendency to mistakenly judge the reasons why people do what they do.