Directionally motivated reasoning makes people reject disconfirming evidence and seek explanations for it.

Evidence

Now, obviously we were taken aback by that. ‘Wow, that’s kind of a problem.’ We obviously were not willing to accept that, and so we started looking for ways to disprove it was actually registering the motion of the Earth. … This is textbook motivated reasoning. Bob Knodel has been researching conspiracies for over twenty years and is an active member of the ‘truther’ community. He is as motivated as it gets. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 166

Categorization

• DEFINE: Concrete illustration of ‘directionally motivated reasoning’ — starting from a desired conclusion and working backward — grounded in a real gyroscope experiment.
• XREF: connects to: Motivated reasoning makes people reject information threatening their values and beliefs. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 89; People often resist or reverse belief updating rather than tracking evidence — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 104; People often distort evidence to fit preexisting worldviews rather than updating beliefs — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 108 (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• Even disconfirmation evidence often fails to break a person’s confirmation bias #corroborates (0.95) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 94
• Belief systems reject disconfirming evidence rather than revising theories #corroborates (0.90)
• Belief systems respond to contrary evidence by discounting the evidence #corroborates (0.90)
• People preferentially seek confirming evidence and avoid testing their own hypotheses. #expands (0.85) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 93
• People resist updating beliefs even at the cost of accuracy #corroborates (0.85)
• Repeated stereotypes create interpretive frames that filter out disconfirming evidence #corroborates (0.85) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 94
• Motivated reasoning is the motive while confirmation bias is the mechanism #qualifies (0.80) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 100
• Disconfirming evidence can strengthen rather than weaken committed beliefs. #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 97
• Confrontation with contrary evidence can intensify rather than weaken firm belief. #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 97
• Prejudice persists because people dismiss evidence contradicting existing attitudes #corroborates (0.80)
• Resisting disconfirming evidence only becomes dogmatism after repeated failures #qualifies (0.80) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2636
• Selective evidence use lets people maintain the illusion of being objective while holding prejudice #corroborates (0.80) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2095
• False beliefs often stem from bad sources rather than closed minds #complicates (0.75) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 143