ScienceDaily: Polarized speech: A function of self-persuasion
"While self-persuasion has been studied in the laboratory setting, Schwardmann and a team of researchers know that this phenomenon is not confined to the lab. They used data gathered during international debate competitions to explore how self-persuasion influences an individual's factual belief and confidence when defending a position.
"We find that competitive debates lead to polarization, because people persuade themselves that their side is right even before the debate starts," said Joël van der Weele, associate professor at the Center for Research in Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making at the University of Amsterdam. Van der Weele is a contributing author on the study. "The debate itself does not lead to convergence of opinions, so the initial polarization persists, even when we ask them a day after the debate."
The researchers found self-persuasion occurs despite incentives for accuracy and persists even after exposure to opposing views. In addition, participants were inclined to believe a statement was true if it strengthened their argument for an assigned position.”
My Takeaways From This Article
A rather bleak study on the internet. Essentially this article says that people are usually prone to be self-persuaded about a topic or position that they are asked to take whether it be through peers or by emotional basis. Even when presented with positions that clearly do not align with the participants beliefs, when asked to defend their position they did so with perceived superiority in their position.
Researchers from Carnegie posit that this is precisely what is going on with political and social polarization nowadays. Self-persuasion can occur easily in highly emotional states and be reinforced through peer and echo chambers.
Particular methods to avoid self-persuasion are still being looked into but potential solutions start from being aware of the phenomenon: that your brain is more likely to persuade itself as right even when it obviously contradicts earlier statements you may have made or believed about yourself.
Full article is here!
Have you ever had experience with self-persuasion? What are some ways we can avoid this phenomenon to be able to make well-informed decisions?
#Social #Persuasion #Polarization
@sunnyWriting4806
It would probably help to study some philosophy and logic, go into debates only when you believe that the other one may be right (and having some sort of isthmus test either to conclude that you are in the wrong or to believe that the other one is in the right), and trying to take the perspective of the other with the best arguments you can come up with for it.
@DragonView2
I totally agree with you, being informed in basic rules of logic and philosophy and sticking by it can definitely help you be informed to make the right decisions. Additionally I like the idea of just having a test in which to compare your and the opponents stance to see which one seems 'right'. But I think just finding that kind of test is hard enough haha, as we are, as the article says, easily prone to sway such tests to our favor.
@sunnyWriting4806 even if the test is swayed in your favor, it is better than having a dishonest argument in which you pretend that your opinion is still negotiable (that is, that it depends on facts) when it actually isn't. The standards you set may be hard or unattainable for the opponent, but if they are logical and consistent, they are valid.
Let's say for instance that I claim that John didn't build the birdhouse I payed him to build. He claims he did: his evidence is the absence of the materials I gave him and the presence of signs of work (wood shavings, worn equipment). John claims he made the birdhouse and put it on the tree. I say there's no birdhouse on the tree, and that I won't believe he did the job until I see the birdhouse. Now, maybe the birdhouse was actually stolen. John can't produce it, and can't prove the existence of the birdhouse. My argument is swayed in my favor, and puts him in a hard position. But John can't call me unfair for not believing his position. Maybe he had bad luck. Or maybe he tried to trick me. In any case, it is more fair than me saying that outwardly, but saying "I won't believe even if a birdhouse is produced" inwardly.
@sunnyWriting4806 I think self-persuasion is probably pretty hard to break. I think we all need to open our minds a little more and be willing to listen. Here in America, everyone is so polarized in politics that we can't get anything productive done! Everyone is one side or the other and no one wants to hear anyone out respectfully. I find it so frustrating because there are assumptions made about both sides and people that others don't even know! How can you make assumptions about people you don't know? I've had my relationships affected by this. It's not right and honestly, kinda sad.
@fruityPond7887
Assumptions are the root of misunderstanding, when you assume something about another person because the way they identify or the way they look, its bound to cause some misunderstanding down the road. Assumptions are shortcuts that can definitely help in some scenarios but when it comes to debate and discussing important issues it can serve fatal to entertain such.
@sunnyWriting4806 You're absolutely right. You know what they say when you assume 😂 You're correct in that making assumptions allows people to conclude things that may or may not be true and it's more productive to have a civil conversation than to just make an assumption about someone.
