Stress drives the brain toward cognitively cheaper confirmation bias

Evidence

When under stress, the brain resorts to relying on short-cuts (also known as heuristics or rules of thumb). We can’t escape the concept of fluency here either, because our brains process information that we like or agree with faster than information which conflicts with our preconceptions about the world. This short-cut or heuristic is called confirmation bias. We are biased in the sense that we are quicker to confirm and accept evidence that fits with our worldview than evidence which contradicts it. Information that challenges what we know to be true about the world is cognitively much more taxing to deal with. People have a strong desire to hold internally consistent beliefs, so evidence that challenges some of these beliefs will result in a state of having to deal with conflicting thoughts, or what we call ‘cognitive dissonance’. This dissonance can be resolved by either updating one’s beliefs or by rejecting the evidence instead. Unfortunately, the latter is often much easier. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 117

Categorization

• XREF: Connects processing fluency (chapter’s earlier theme) to confirmation bias — fluent information that fits the worldview is accepted because it costs less cognitive effort. — connects to: Time pressure makes everyone rely on intuition and mistake fluency for truth — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 76; Scarcity and stress deplete mental bandwidth for future-oriented thinking — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 116; Stress depletes cognitive resources and narrows how people perceive their in-groups — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 546 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Stress depletes cognitive resources and narrows how people perceive their in-groups #expands (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 546
• Low mental energy increases reliance on stereotypes for judgment #corroborates (0.85)
• Bias risk rises under emotional, ambiguous, and low-effort decision conditions #qualifies (0.80) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1395
• Motivated reasoning is the motive while confirmation bias is the mechanism #expands (0.78) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 100
• Stereotype threat produces measurable physiological stress responses in body and brain #expands (0.75) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1374