MIXORA CONCEPT
Motivated reasoning
Reasoning shaped by a preferred conclusion, identity, emotion or practical incentive.
Motivation can change how critically evidence is searched and evaluated. This need not be conscious deception; standards can be applied unevenly without noticing.
What “Moderate evidence” means
The pattern has meaningful research support, but its size or reliability depends more strongly on context, population, measurement or competing explanations.
VISUAL EXPLANATION · MARKER BOARDA buyer scrutinizes criticism of a paint they already purchased more harshly than praise of it.
Having a motive does not prove the conclusion false; it signals a reason to check the process.
Would I demand the same quality of evidence if the result favored the other side?
A tendency to seek, interpret or remember information in ways that favor an existing belief or hypothesis.
→thought × bridgeEvidenceInformation that raises, lowers or otherwise constrains rational confidence in a claim.
→thoughtCognitive biasA systematic pattern in judgment or memory that departs from a relevant standard or produces predictable error.
→SOURCES & TRUST
References
Last reviewed
- 01Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many GuisesAcademic source
Raymond S. Nickerson · 1998 · Review of General Psychology
Review of selective searching for and interpretation of evidence.
What the source labels mean
- Primary source
- Original work, experiment, standard or historical text.
- Academic source
- Scholarly research or review published for an academic audience.
- Reference source
- An expert standard, encyclopedia or institutional explanation that summarizes a field.
- General reference
- A practical specialist resource useful for application, but not treated as decisive research by itself.