Collectively Jumping to Conclusions: Social Information Amplifies the Tendency to Gather Insufficient Data

Sulik, Justin; Efferson, Charles and McKay, Ryan (2021): Collectively Jumping to Conclusions: Social Information Amplifies the Tendency to Gather Insufficient Data. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, Vol. 150, No. 11: pp. 2309-2320

Abstract

False beliefs can spread within societies even when they are costly and when individuals share access to the same objective reality. Research on the cultural evolution of misbeliefs has demonstrated that a social context can explain what people think but not whether it also explains how people think. We shift the focus from the diffusion of false beliefs to the diffusion of suboptimal belief-formation strategies and identify a novel mechanism whereby misbeliefs arise and spread. We show that, when individual decision makers have access to the data-gathering behavior of others, the tendency to make decisions on the basis of insufficient evidence is amplified, increasing the rate of incorrect, costly decisions. We argue that this mechanism fills a gap in current explanations of problematic, widespread misbeliefs such as climate change denial.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Religious Science
• Subjects: 100 Philosophy and Psychology > 100 Philosophy
• ISSN: 0096-3445
• Language: English