What is motivated reasoning?

Information that does not conform to preexisting beliefs is a threat to self-worth and it affects the way people react to political messaging Source:  discovermagazine.com

“Motivated reasoning” is a term psychologists use to define the tendency to interpret information in such a way that it confirms preexisting beliefs.  According to this theory, any information that runs counter to the belief system of a subject, if accepted, is a devaluation of self and therefore would decrease a person’s self-worth.  Information that decreases self-worth  is consequently rejected.

In political psychology, the concept of motivated reasoning has been used to assess the way political messaging is received and interpreted by the electorate, say, following a debate.  Information presented by a candidate that is in complete opposition to a person’s belief system, termed schema in the lexicon of political psychology, is likely to be rejected by the subject. Thus, using this reasoning, the best argument against an issue is not always the most convincing.  Rather, less convincing arguments have more of an effect on those whose opinions need to be swayed by a candidate.

Photo by Genevieve DiNatale Source: Emerson College Library (text cover for Wired TV)

Charles Taber is a political science professor at Stony Brook University.  He says that “motivated reasoners” can be persuaded by political messaging if the message does not conflict with the person’s identity.  “When you talk about self-worth, you are also bringing in identity.  If I don’t just believe something, but in addition to that my identity is tied up in that belief that becomes a belief structure that is extremely hard to change because in order to change it I have to change some element of my identity,” he said.  “But say you don’t have very strong beliefs, as in, I identify as a gun owner, but I don’t have ideological beliefs that lead me to be support gun rights. A person like that is a motivated reasoner to an extent, but if I start seeing a lot of studies and these studies are all showing that gun control would decrease deaths, at a certain point, I might hit a tipping point and change my view.  But if I am such a staunch gun supporter that my identity is tied up in it, then I might never change my mind no matter what kind of information I see.”