‘Belief Perseverance’ is a concept in behavioral economics where people tend to hold on to their beliefs even when information contradicting or disconfirming that belief is presented.
Define ‘Belief Perseverance’
It is a concept that completely disables individuals from accepting new information or facts that contradict or refute their current beliefs. Even if you clearly break down the concept into small bite-sized portions and explain to them in a clear digestible form, they understand but will refuse to accept the clear facts presented before them.
Three types of Belief Perseverance
- Social Theories- involves the beliefs about the world around us. The macrocosm of ‘Belief Perseverance’ deals with belief systems, morals, principles, ideologies, doctrines, dogmas, philosophies, values, attitudes, and meanings….all the foundational constructs upon which you have built your life and living it.
- Self-impressions – beliefs about self- ones identity, looks, intelligence. For example, an individual may not be a good public speaker but believes that he is great at public speaking and refuse to accept that he needs to improve even on being shown ample evidence.
- Social-impressions – beliefs about other individuals. The microcosm of this is present even in everyday life. When a parent gets a call from the police informing them that their child has been arrested for drug use, their first thought, “can’t be, this is a case of mistaken identity, John would never do that”. When news reaches you that your pastor has been arrested for money laundering and racketeering, first thought, “can’t be, someone is trying to frame him”. In these cases, eventually, there is an acceptance, because for you to move forward in life, and re-align it, you have to accept the circumstances and process it.
What can be the root cause?
What could be the root cause of ‘Belief Perseverance’? Is it as simple as Pride? or in their minds, the inability to ‘betray’ our forefathers and ancestors by rejecting their ideology or deducing that their ideology was wrong all along? and in doing so, inferring you were adhering to a wrong ideology for the best part of your adult life?
- Availability Heuristics– People are usually motivated to keep their beliefs. They do this due to the availability heuristics, the process by which one thinks the outcome of an event is likely to come. For eg. one may give negative feedback and suggest to others not to visit a good restaurant because he can only think of the bad experience he had.
- Illusory correlation – where one believes that a relation (mostly negative) occurs between two variables even when it doesn’t. For eg. one individual may had a negative experience working with an Asian. Now that individual may refuse to work with any other Asian because of his Belief Perseverance. That individual may label all Asians from his past experience even when that is not true at all.
- Distortions in Data – due to ones belief perseverance one creates opportunities that confirm their beliefs. So, when an individual believes that all Asians are rude, then individual may behave in such a way that provokes others to be rude. Meanwhile, they ignore all the instances where the Asians are friendly and calm.
Question to ponder upon
Has the thought crossed your mind? what if the most strongest and concrete principles you have lived your life by were false? If someone stepped up to provide proof that they were false, would you write him off as an imbecile, or would you allow your thought process to entertain the likelihood of it being such?