Publication
Title
Socially adaptive belief
Author
Abstract
I clarify and defend the hypothesis that human belief formation is sensitive to social rewards and punishments, such that beliefs are sometimes formed based on unconscious expectations of their likely effects on other agents - agents who frequently reward us when we hold ungrounded beliefs and punish us when we hold reasonable ones. After clarifying this phenomenon and distinguishing it from other sources of bias in the psychological literature, I argue that the hypothesis is plausible on theoretical grounds and I show how it illuminates and unifies a range of psychological phenomena, including confabulation and rationalisation, positive illusions, and identity-protective cognition.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Mind and language. - Oxford
Publication
Hoboken : Wiley , 2020
ISSN
0268-1064 [print]
1468-0017 [online]
DOI
10.1111/MILA.12294
Volume/pages
p. 1-22
ISI
000526662100001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Project info
The diversity of unconscious mental processes.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.05.2020
Last edited 29.11.2024
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