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Category

Cognitive Biases

Impact level

3 / 5

Category Cognitive Biases

Impact 3 / 5

COGNITIVE BIASES

Confirmation
Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Also known as: Confirmatory Bias, Myside Bias

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Cognitive processing

System 1 (fast, intuitive). Biases often lean on quick judgments (System 1) unless you slow down and analyze (System 2).

Evidence & time

Evidence strength: experimental. Typical read: about 5 min.

Catch it next time

Practical steps for Confirmation Bias

1
Actively seek disconfirming evidence
high effectivenessmoderate difficulty
2
Practice devil's advocate thinking
medium effectivenessmoderate difficulty

Tape this to your desk.

02

Common triggers

Encountering opposing views

Researching a controversial topic

03

Typical contexts

Political discussions

Investment decisions

Scientific research

04

Mitigation strategies

Actively seek disconfirming evidence

Effectiveness: high

Difficulty: moderate

Practice devil's advocate thinking

Effectiveness: medium

Difficulty: moderate

05

Potential decision harms

Poor investment choices

major Severity

Political polarization

critical Severity