Belief perseverance

Belief perseverance (also known as conceptual conservatism^[1]) is maintaining a belief despite new information that firmly contradicts it.^[2]

Since rationality involves conceptual flexibility,^[3]^[4] belief perseverance is consistent with the view that human beings act at times in an irrational manner. Philosopher F.C.S. Schiller holds that belief perseverance "deserves to rank among the fundamental 'laws' of nature".^[5]

If beliefs are strengthened after others attempt to present evidence debunking them, this is known as a backfire effect.^[6] There are psychological mechanisms by which backfire effects could potentially occur, but the evidence on this topic is mixed, and backfire effects are very rare in practice.^[7]^[8]^[9] A 2020 review of the scientific literature on backfire effects found that there have been widespread failures to replicate their existence, even under conditions that would be theoretically favorable to observing them.^[8] Due to the lack of reproducibility, as of 2020^[update] most researchers believe that backfire effects are either unlikely to occur on the broader population level, or they only occur in very specific circumstances, or they do not exist.^[8] For most people, corrections and fact-checking are very unlikely to have a negative impact, and there is no specific group of people in which backfire effects have been consistently observed.^[8]

^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Baumeister, R. F.; et al., eds. (2007). Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp. 109–110. ISBN 9781412916707.
^ Voss, J. F.; et al., eds. (1991). Informal Reasoning and Education. Hillsdale: Erlbaum. p. 172.
^ West, L.H.T.; et al., eds. (1985). Cognitive Structure and Conceptual Change. Orlando, FL: Academic Press. p. 211.
^ Beveridge, W. I. B. (1950). The Art of Scientific Investigation. New York: Norton. p. 106.
^ Cite error: The named reference Silverman2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference LazicZezelj2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Swire-Thompson B, DeGutis J, Lazer D (2020). "Searching for the Backfire Effect: Measurement and Design Considerations". J Appl Res Mem Cogn. 9 (3): 286–299. doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.06.006. PMC 7462781. PMID 32905023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Cite error: The named reference Nyhan2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:0-1] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Baumeister, R. F.; et al., eds. (2007). Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp. 109–110. ISBN 9781412916707.

[3] Voss, J. F.; et al., eds. (1991). Informal Reasoning and Education. Hillsdale: Erlbaum. p. 172.

[4] West, L.H.T.; et al., eds. (1985). Cognitive Structure and Conceptual Change. Orlando, FL: Academic Press. p. 211.

[5] Beveridge, W. I. B. (1950). The Art of Scientific Investigation. New York: Norton. p. 106.

[Silverman2011-6] Cite error: The named reference Silverman2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[LazicZezelj2021-7] Cite error: The named reference LazicZezelj2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Swire-Thompson2020-8] Swire-Thompson B, DeGutis J, Lazer D (2020). "Searching for the Backfire Effect: Measurement and Design Considerations". J Appl Res Mem Cogn. 9 (3): 286–299. doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.06.006. PMC 7462781. PMID 32905023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Nyhan2021-9] Cite error: The named reference Nyhan2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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