<P> A series of psychological experiments in the 1960s suggested that people are biased toward confirming their existing beliefs . Later work re-interpreted these results as a tendency to test ideas in a one - sided way, focusing on one possibility and ignoring alternatives . In certain situations, this tendency can bias people's conclusions . Explanations for the observed biases include wishful thinking and the limited human capacity to process information . Another explanation is that people show confirmation bias because they are weighing up the costs of being wrong, rather than investigating in a neutral, scientific way . </P> <P> Confirmation biases contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs and can maintain or strengthen beliefs in the face of contrary evidence . Poor decisions due to these biases have been found in political and organizational contexts . </P> <P> Confirmation biases are effects in information processing . They differ from what is sometimes called the behavioral confirmation effect, commonly known as self - fulfilling prophecy, in which a person's expectations influence their own behavior, bringing about the expected result . </P> <P> Some psychologists restrict the term confirmation bias to selective collection of evidence that supports what one already believes while ignoring or rejecting evidence that supports a different conclusion . Others apply the term more broadly to the tendency to preserve one's existing beliefs when searching for evidence, interpreting it, or recalling it from memory . </P>

Who share the same views and the same exact beliefs