Confirmation bias in information search, interpretation, and memory recall: evidence from reasoning about four controversial topics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Dáša Vedejová ◽  
Vladimíra Čavojová
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Memory Recall

The Effects of Decision Aid Design on the Information Search Strategies and Confirmation Bias of Tax Professionals

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick R. Wheeler ◽  
Vairam Arunachalam
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Decision Aid ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Search Strategies ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Tax Professionals ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
Factor Evaluation ◽  
Tax Research

We report the results of a study involving 142 tax professionals designed to investigate the effects of decision aid design on information search (i.e., tax research) and confirmation bias. Results indicate that the participants exhibited confirmation bias when conducting tax research for clients. That is, participants showed a tendency to preferentially select information in support of their earlier recommendations to the client, even when the recommendation disagreed with the client's subsequent tax position. Results also indicate that while some decision aid features can reduce confirmation bias during tax research, others do not and may even enhance this bias. Specifically, a justification requirement decision aid reduced confirmation bias in terms of both the number and perceived importance of selected confirmatory cases, whereas a factor evaluation checklist decision aid either increased the bias (i.e., increased the perceived importance of cases) or had no effect on the bias (i.e., no effect on the number of cases). We suggest several decision aid design features for reducing confirmation bias in tax research.

scholarly journals How Confidence in Prior Attitudes, Social Tag Popularity, and Source Credibility Shape Confirmation Bias Toward Antidepressants and Psychotherapy in a Representative German Sample: Randomized Controlled Web-Based Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Schweiger ◽  
Ulrike Cress
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Prior Attitudes ◽  
Blog Posts

BACKGROUND In health-related, Web-based information search, people should select information in line with expert (vs nonexpert) information, independent of their prior attitudes and consequent confirmation bias. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate confirmation bias in mental health–related information search, particularly (1) if high confidence worsens confirmation bias, (2) if social tags eliminate the influence of prior attitudes, and (3) if people successfully distinguish high and low source credibility. METHODS In total, 520 participants of a representative sample of the German Web-based population were recruited via a panel company. Among them, 48.1% (250/520) participants completed the fully automated study. Participants provided prior attitudes about antidepressants and psychotherapy. We manipulated (1) confidence in prior attitudes when participants searched for blog posts about the treatment of depression, (2) tag popularity —either psychotherapy or antidepressant tags were more popular, and (3) source credibility with banners indicating high or low expertise of the tagging community. We measured tag and blog post selection, and treatment efficacy ratings after navigation. RESULTS Tag popularity predicted the proportion of selected antidepressant tags (beta=.44, SE 0.11; P<.001) and blog posts (beta=.46, SE 0.11; P<.001). When confidence was low (−1 SD), participants selected more blog posts consistent with prior attitudes (beta=−.26, SE 0.05; P<.001). Moreover, when confidence was low (−1 SD) and source credibility was high (+1 SD), the efficacy ratings of attitude-consistent treatments increased (beta=.34, SE 0.13; P=.01). CONCLUSIONS We found correlational support for defense motivation account underlying confirmation bias in the mental health–related search context. That is, participants tended to select information that supported their prior attitudes, which is not in line with the current scientific evidence. Implications for presenting persuasive Web-based information are also discussed. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03899168; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03899168 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/77Nyot3Do)

The Interactive Effect of Time Pressure and Client Preference on Tax Professionals' Information Search Emphasis, Judgments, and Recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-105
Author(s):  
Robert A. Ewing ◽  
Brian C. Spilker
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Decision Bias ◽  
Client Preference ◽  
Tax Professionals ◽  
Evidential Support ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Biasing Effects

ABSTRACT Tax professionals commonly search large databases of information to identify tax authority necessary to provide compliance and planning advice to clients. Prior research indicates tax professionals' information search processes are subject to confirmation bias in the direction of client preferences and that this bias can lead professionals to make overly aggressive recommendations. However, very little is known about how time pressure may affect tax professionals' judgment and decision-making processes. This study contributes to practice and to the time pressure and decision bias literatures by providing theory and evidence that increasing time pressure leads to confirmation bias during tax information search and that time pressure enhanced confirmation bias affects recommendations through professionals' assessments of the evidential support for the client-preferred position. With an understanding of how time pressure can influence confirmation bias in information search, professionals and their firms can take steps to manage time pressure and its potential biasing effects.

The Influence of Client Preferences on Tax Professionals' Search for Judicial Precedents, Subsequent Judgments and Recommendations

1999 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Bryan Cloyd ◽  
Brian C. Spilker
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
Tax Professionals ◽  
Tax Returns ◽  
Federal Income Tax ◽  
Client Advocacy ◽  
Advocacy Role

Tax professionals provide valuable services to clients by reducing uncertainty about how clients should report transactions on their tax returns. To reduce uncertainty, tax professionals research applicable authorities (e.g., judicial precedents) and provide assessments to clients of the level of authoritative support for client-favorable positions. Tax professionals have strong incentives to make accurate assessments of the strength of client-preferred positions so that clients will understand the level of risk associated with the reporting position. Further, tax professionals must make accurate assessments of authoritative support in order to maintain compliance with tax professional standards and Federal income tax regulations. Incentives notwithstanding, psychological research on confirmation bias suggests that tax professionals' client advocacy role may inhibit professionals' ability to search objectively for relevant tax authority which, in turn, might inhibit their ability to accurately assess authoritative support. We report the results of two studies that examine causes and effects of confirmation bias in tax information search. In study 1, we find that subjects' information searches emphasized cases with conclusions consistent with the client's desired outcome (i.e., positive cases) over cases inconsistent with the client's desired outcome (i.e., negative cases), despite the fact that positive cases were no more similar to the client's facts. Additional analyses indicate that the extent of this confirmation bias was positively related to their assessments of the likelihood that a neutral court would resolve the issue in the client's favor and this in turn increased the strength with which they recommended the client's preferred tax position. Results of study 2 indicate that confirmation bias induced by client preferences can be strong enough to not only result in inaccurate assessments of authoritative support for the client-favored position, which is problematic in and of itself, but also to lead tax professionals to make overly aggressive recommendations.

Do Auditor Advocacy Attitudes Impede Audit Objectivity?

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Pennington ◽  
Jennifer K. Schafer ◽  
Robert Pinsker
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Search Strategies ◽  
Important Link ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Audit Evidence ◽  
Evaluation Of Evidence

Biased evaluation of evidence exists when an auditor either over-emphasizes evidence that supports management assertions or over-emphasizes evidence against management assertions. This study examines if an auditor’s advocacy attitudes lead to bias in information search for audit evidence. We measure the range of advocacy attitudes of individual auditors and hypothesize that auditors at either end of the advocacy spectrum may impede the objectivity of evidence gathered. Results from 60 Big 4 auditors indicate that advocacy attitudes affect both initial judgments and consequent search strategies of auditors. When initial judgments are client-favorable, all auditors exhibit search strategies focused on finding evidence to take a more conservative position; however, when initial judgments represent an unfavorable client position, auditors with lower advocacy attitudes exhibit a stronger tendency to search for additional evidence against a client-favorable position, consistent with a confirmation bias. Conversely, auditors with more neutral attitudes plan a more objective search effectively mitigating the bias. Aggregate findings establish an important link between bias and information search that may manifest itself in auditor training procedures and be of interest to auditing regulators.

Confirmation bias: why psychiatrists stick to wrong preliminary diagnoses

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 2651-2659 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Mendel ◽  
E. Traut-Mattausch ◽  
E. Jonas ◽  
S. Leucht ◽  
J. M. Kane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Diagnostic Errors ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Preliminary Diagnosis ◽  
Contradictory Evidence ◽  
Wrong Diagnosis

BackgroundDiagnostic errors can have tremendous consequences because they can result in a fatal chain of wrong decisions. Experts assume that physicians' desire to confirm a preliminary diagnosis while failing to seek contradictory evidence is an important reason for wrong diagnoses. This tendency is called ‘confirmation bias’.MethodTo study whether psychiatrists and medical students are prone to confirmation bias and whether confirmation bias leads to poor diagnostic accuracy in psychiatry, we presented an experimental decision task to 75 psychiatrists and 75 medical students.ResultsA total of 13% of psychiatrists and 25% of students showed confirmation bias when searching for new information after having made a preliminary diagnosis. Participants conducting a confirmatory information search were significantly less likely to make the correct diagnosis compared to participants searching in a disconfirmatory or balanced way [multiple logistic regression: odds ratio (OR) 7.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.53–21.22, p<0.001; OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.23–8.56, p=0.02]. Psychiatrists conducting a confirmatory search made a wrong diagnosis in 70% of the cases compared to 27% or 47% for a disconfirmatory or balanced information search (students: 63, 26 and 27%). Participants choosing the wrong diagnosis also prescribed different treatment options compared with participants choosing the correct diagnosis.ConclusionsConfirmatory information search harbors the risk of wrong diagnostic decisions. Psychiatrists should be aware of confirmation bias and instructed in techniques to reduce bias.

scholarly journals INFORMATION SEARCH BEHAVIOR AND TAX CONSULTANTS’ RECOMMENDATION: EXPERIMENTAL EXAMINATION ON THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NORMS

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-135
Author(s):  
Fauzan Misra ◽  
Slamet Sugiri ◽  
Eko Suwardi ◽  
Ertambang Nahartyo
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Search Behavior ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Client Preference ◽  
Tax Professionals ◽  
Information Search Behavior ◽  
Confirmatory Behavior ◽  
The Way

This study examines the influence of client preference with respect to information search behavior and subsequent tax recommendation. Prior studies have identified that tax consultants exhibit confirmation bias in their information search processes, which is explained by the theory of motivated reasoning (Kunda, 1990). However, that theory does not take into consideration responses of tax consultant that are attributable to the way clients present their preferences. This study fills the gap by proposing a social norm activation model which can help to foster a better understanding of the nature of the confirmatory behavior. To accomplish this purpose, study participants role-played as advisors on a tax compliance task. The experiment used aweb-based instrument that involved 82 tax professionals. Results showed that tax consultants engaged inlower confirmation bias when they received an explicitly preference statement from their client than those who received an implicit statement. Furthermore, the former tax consultants recommended a more conservative tax position than the latter. These findings underscore the importance of social norm in a professional tax work environment. As a practical contribution, these findings suggest that the beliefs and norms of tax professionals influence the way they do their work.

scholarly journals ACCOUNTABILITY PRESSURE AS DEBIASER FOR CONFIRMATION BIAS IN INFORMATION SEARCH AND TAX CONSULTANT’S RECOMMENDATIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fauzan - Misra
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Search Behavior ◽  
Simple Effect ◽  
Tax Professionals ◽  
Search Processes ◽  
Mitigating Factors ◽  
Information Search Behavior

Introduction: This study examines the influence of accountability pressure toward information search behavior and the subsequent tax recommendation.  Background Problem: Prior research has shown that tax consultants are subject to confirmation bias during their information search when providing recommendations to their clients. Nevertheless, less attention has been given to identifying boundary condition or mitigating factors. This study proposes accountability pressure to mitigate such bias. Novelty: This study broadens the understanding of the effect of different accountability pressures on an individual’s effort and judgement making. Research Method: The research was conducted by an experimental approach using a 1x2 between-subjects design using an Internet-based instrument. Accountability pressure is manipulated into 2 levels (strong or weak). The experiment involved 82 tax professionals. Findings: The results show that accountability pressures influence the depth of the consultant information search. That is, a tax consultant those faced a high accountability pressure performed a deep search, while those who faced a weak accountability pressure conducted a shallow search. Then, a deep search leads to more conservative recommendations, while a shallow search leads to an aggressive recommendation. Furthermore, the results of interaction and simple effect tests show that the information search depth can mitigate confirmation bias occurred during information search processes. Conclusion: These findings imply that accountability within the organization needs to get more attention from tax consultants. While any prior research found that confirmation bias was proofed to have pervasive character and hard to be eliminated,  this study pointed out that the accountability pressure could mitigate such bias.

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