⬅️ Critical Thinking

  • Describes how some individuals when confronted with evidence that conflicts with their beliefs come to hold their original position even more strongly
  • We know that providing political misinformation works by feeding into people’s pre-existing beliefs.
  • We’re likely to accept information uncritically, true or false, that fits with what we already believe.
  • Whatever the cause, the backfire effect is very curious. The more ideological  and the more emotion-based a belief is, the more likely it is that contrary evidence will be ineffective.