Confirmation Bias Fallacy Examples in Media, Real Life, Politics, News & Ads

Confirmation Bias Fallacy

Confirmation Bias Fallacy Definition

Confirmation bias is a tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. It can lead to ignoring or discarding evidence that doesn’t support one’s beliefs. The confirmation bias fallacy is when you have been presented the same evidence, but a different person states their idea, and it sounds more believable than the original argument.

It is a type of cognitive bias that ties in with the direct opposite of critical thinking. Confirmation bias is when someone only accepts information or thoughts that align with their opinions or beliefs.

Confirmation bias is a tendency to search for, interpret, or remember information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions or hypotheses. The term is often used in a non-judgmental way to describe the human tendency to resort to confirmation bias or motivated reasoning.

Motivated reasoning is the notion that people want to be correct about their thoughts and opinions, and they know the facts that will make them look correct.

Confirmation Bias Fallacy Examples

Confirmation Bias example in Business

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Business:

The confirmation bias fallacy is one of the more powerful biases in that it allows people to dismiss or ignore evidence that is counter to their beliefs. The most common form of confirmation bias that people use in everyday life is when they make choices for products.

When we are looking for evidence to support our own beliefs, we tend to ignore or discredit information that doesn’t fit with what we want to believe.

An example of confirmation bias in business is when a company’s marketing team only focuses on customers’ positive feedback and ignores any negative reviews.

For example, a person may go to a gas station and buy a certain type of gas. Even though they know that the gas is expensive, they will find reasons to believe in that gas’s superiority.

Confirmation Bias example in Workplace

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Workplace

A person who is biased in favor of their own views or opinions and thus blind to the possibility that they might be wrong.

The tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories, leading to a distortion of perception.

When someone has an idea about how something should work and then when it does not work like that, they think it must be broken.

Confirmation Bias example in Science

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Science:

Confirmation bias is when you search for what you want to find versus what is actually there. This is a fallacy because the bias will push someone to make connections that may not be there.

For example, people who smoke cigarettes think they have a low risk of cancer. No one wants to believe that they are putting themselves in harm in a way. However, the vast majority of people die from cancer caused by smoking cigarettes.

Confirmation Bias example in Philosophy

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Philosophy:

An example of confirmation bias would be when people choose to turn on the TV to validate their political opinions.

Another example would be when people google the web for information about their favorite celebrity and just click on the first link that says something nice.

Confirmation Bias Fallacy Real-Life Examples

Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Real Life:

When you have a strong opinion about something, it can be not easy to accept that there are other points of view.

For example, when someone is convinced that their child is the best in their class and they refuse to believe any evidence to the contrary.

This is an example of confirmation bias because people will only seek out information that supports what they already think or believe.

Confirmation Bias Fallacy Examples in Media

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Media: 

• When journalists use language that reinforces their opinion.
• When journalists are biased towards one side of an issue and don’t give the other side a fair chance to speak.
• When journalists avoid covering stories that could be damaging to their own political party or cause

Confirmation Bias Examples in Advertising

Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Advertising: 

• The advertising company will use a tailored message to the person they are marketing to, but it may not be the most effective message for everyone.
• The advertisement will also include an image or video clip that reinforces their desired message.
•  People who are more susceptible to this fallacy might believe in the product and buy it because of what they saw on TV.

Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Politics

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Politics:

The confirmation bias fallacy is a logical error in reasoning where someone seeks out evidence that supports their beliefs and ignores any contradictory evidence. This type of thinking leads to people believing they are right even when they are wrong.

A good example of this mistake would be the US presidential election in 2016, where supporters for both candidates believed their candidate was going to win.

Confirmation Bias Fallacy examples in Movies

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Movies:

A movie’s character is shown to be a hero, and the audience assumes that they are always heroic.

The film’s protagonist is seen as attractive or intelligent, so we assume that they have these qualities. We see someone do something good, but we think it wasn’t good because it’s not what we would normally do ourselves.

Extravagant Confirmation Bias Examples in Literature

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in Literature:

The protagonist in the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a prime example of confirmation bias.  In the novel, Jay Gatsby’s love for Daisy Buchanan is based on his own self-perception and not reality.

This leads to him making irrational decisions that ultimately lead to his downfall.

Confirmation Bias Fallacy Examples in News

Examples of Confirmation Bias Fallacy in News:

• The idea that the media is biased and will always report on news in a way that benefits their own agenda.
•  The idea that people are more likely to believe information if it confirms what they already know or want to be true.
• People may read an article about a topic but only remember the details which support their beliefs.

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