Myside bias A Psychology Concept

 Myside bias refers to the tendency for individuals to evaluate, seek, and interpret evidence in ways that favor their pre‑existing beliefs, attitudes, or opinions. Rather than objectively considering all sides of an issue, people selectively generate and accept arguments that support their own position while discounting or ignoring opposing viewpoints. This bias is closely related to confirmation bias but is typically defined more narrowly as biased reasoning specifically in support of one’s own stance on an issue. Research shows that myside bias occurs across a wide range of reasoning tasks and is not strongly predicted by intelligence or cognitive ability. (Sutton, 2025, December 22).

Cite this post

Sutton, G. W. (2025, December 22). Myside bias: A psychology concept. Psychology Concepts and Theories. 

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Research brief

Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (2007). Natural myside bias is independent of cognitive ability. Thinking & Reasoning, 13(3), 225–247.

This study demonstrates that individuals consistently show myside bias when generating arguments for controversial issues, and importantly, that this bias is largely unrelated to measures of intelligence—suggesting that myside bias is a pervasive feature of human reasoning rather than a deficit in cognitive capacity.

Note

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Post Author

Geoffrey W. Sutton, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Evangel University, holds a master’s degree in counseling and a PhD in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His postdoctoral work encompassed education and supervision in forensic and neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. As a licensed psychologist, he conducted clinical and neuropsychological evaluations and provided psychotherapy for patients in various settings, including schools, hospitals, and private offices. During his tenure as a professor, Dr. Sutton taught courses on psychotherapy, assessment, and research. He has authored over one hundred publications, including books, book chapters, and articles in peer-reviewed psychology journals. 

His website is https://suttong.com 

You can find Dr. Sutton's books on   AMAZON    and  GOOGLE. 

Many publications are free to download at ResearchGate   and Academia