Biased Evaluation of Abstracts Depending on Topic and Conclusion: Further Evidence of a Confirmation Bias Within Scientific Psychology

@article{Hergovich2010BiasedEO,
  title={Biased Evaluation of Abstracts Depending on Topic and Conclusion: Further Evidence of a Confirmation Bias Within Scientific Psychology},
  author={Andreas Hergovich and Reinhard Schott and Christoph Burger},
  journal={Current Psychology},
  year={2010},
  volume={29},
  pages={188-209}
}
The present paper investigated whether academic psychologists show a tendency to rate the quality and appropriateness of scientific studies more favorably when results and conclusions are consistent with their own prior beliefs (i.e., confirmation bias). In an online experiment, 711 psychologists completed a questionnaire (e.g., about their belief in astrology) and evaluated research that was presented in form of a short abstract in which 40 different behaviors (e.g., alcohol consumption… 
View on Springer
70 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
1
Background Citations
15
Results Citations
4

70 Citations

Bias in the evaluation of psychology studies: A comparison of parapsychology versus neuroscience.
The Existence Bias: A Systematic Replication
Abstract Four experiments were conducted to re-examine the recently proposed “existence bias,” according to which people think that the status quo is good simply because it exists. In Experiment 1,…
The Confirmation Bias in Judgment and Decision Making
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information or interpret evidence in ways that are partial to existing beliefs,expectation,or hypothesises and to ignore or overlook information that is…
Weak evidence of country- and institution-related status bias in the peer review of abstracts
TLDR
Only weak evidence of country- or institution-related status bias is found, and mixed regression models with discipline as random-effect parameter indicated that any plausible bias not detected by the authors' study must be small in size.
Confirmation Bias as a Factor in Pharmacy Student Assessment of Research Study Quality
TLDR
PharmD students’ evaluation of clinical research studies was mildly influenced by confirmation bias but more so by the quality of the research.
Negativland - a home for all findings in psychology
  • K. Laws
  • Psychology
    BMC psychology
  • 2013
TLDR
A serious challenge for psychologists to get their house in-order is to make sure that replications and null findings find a home in psychology rather than remain the authors' dirty little secrets that further eat away at the credibility of their science.
Paranormal beliefs and cognitive function: A systematic review and assessment of study quality across four decades of research
Background Research into paranormal beliefs and cognitive functioning has expanded considerably since the last review almost 30 years ago, prompting the need for a comprehensive review. The current…
Confirmation Bias in Studies of Nestmate Recognition: A Cautionary Note for Research into the Behaviour of Animals
TLDR
A meta-analysis, using studies on nestmate recognition in ants, to compare the outcomes of studies that were conducted blind with those that were not, found that the effect size between nestmate and non-nestmate treatment means is significantly lower in experiments conducted blind than those in which colony identity is known.
A New Method for Re-Analyzing Evaluation Bias: Piecewise Growth Curve Modeling Reveals an Asymmetry in the Evaluation of Pro and Con Arguments
TLDR
An important finding of these studies was an asymmetry of the evaluation bias toward pro- or con-arguments: theevaluation bias appeared over the whole polarity range of pro- arguments and increased with more and more extreme polarity.
Psychologists update their beliefs about effect sizes after replication studies.
TLDR
The results suggest that replication studies can contribute to self-correction within psychology, but psychologists may underweight their evidentiary value.
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 18 REFERENCES
Publication prejudices: An experimental study of confirmatory bias in the peer review system
  • M. Mahoney
  • Psychology
    Cognitive Therapy and Research
  • 2005
Confirmatory bias is the tendency to emphasize and believe experiences which support one's views and to ignore or discredit those which do not. The effects of this tendency have been repeatedly…
Psychology of Scientist: XXX. Credibility of Psychologists: An Empirical Study
In order to evaluate the effects of bias among psychologists, two virtually identical abstracts of presumably empirical research in the area of astrology were prepared, one with positive findings and…
Confirmational Response Bias and the Quality of the Editorial Processes Among American Social Work Journals
Objective: To experimentally test for confirmational response bias among social work journals and to assess the time-liness and quality of the referee review process. Method: A positive and a…
The Influence of Prior Beliefs on Scientific Judgments of Evidence Quality
This paper is concerned with the influence of scientists’ prior beliefs on their judgments of evidence quality. A laboratory experiment using advanced graduate students in the sciences (study 1) and…
[Are experts immune to cognitive bias? Dependence of "confirmation bias" on specialist knowledge].
  • J. Krems, C. Zierer
  • Psychology
    Zeitschrift fur experimentelle und angewandte Psychologie
  • 1994
TLDR
The dependency of the confirmation bias on the degree of expertise in diagnostic reasoning was investigated for a medical diagnosis task and found that high-domain knowledge experts have less of a confirmation bias than intermediates or novices.
Biased Assimilation and Attitude Polarization: The Effects of Prior Theories on Subsequently Considered Evidence
People who hold strong opinions on complex social issues are likely to examine relevant empirical evidence in a biased manner. They are apt to accept "confirming" evidence at face value while…
Biases in the interpretation and use of research results.
  • R. MacCoun
  • Psychology
    Annual review of psychology
  • 1998
TLDR
This essay examines attempts to use science to study science: specifically, bias in the interpretation and use of empirical research findings, and examines theory and research on a range of cognitive and motivational mechanisms for bias.
The Scientific Credibility of ESP
A faculty of psychologists is much more skeptical regarding the existence of ESP than beginning psychology students. The students, however, are unaware of this discrepancy. The greater acceptance of…
Under what conditions does theory obstruct research progress?
Researchers display confirmation bias when they persevere by revising procedures until obtaining a theory-predicted result. This strategy produces findings that are overgeneralized in avoidable ways,…
Feeling validated versus being correct: a meta-analysis of selective exposure to information.
TLDR
A meta-analysis assessed whether exposure to information is guided by defense or accuracy motives, and found an uncongeniality bias emerged when uncongsenial information was relevant to accomplishing a current goal.
...
...