Motivationsbias

Motivationsbias is a cognitive bias whereby a person's desires or goals shape the way they perceive, interpret, and remember information, leading to judgments that favor outcomes they find desirable. The term is closely related to motivated reasoning and confirmation bias but emphasizes the directional influence of motivation on cognitive processing rather than just the selectivity of information.

Mechanisms include attentional bias to goal-consistent information, selective encoding and recall, biased interpretation of ambiguous evidence, and framing effects that align with desired outcomes. Affective states such as hope, fear, or anger can further bias judgments, and cognitive dissonance reduction can reinforce the bias.

Examples include political opinion formation, where individuals weigh evidence and interpret data in ways that support preferred policies; medical decision making, where patients or clinicians overemphasize benefits or understate risks to meet hopeful expectations; and legal or organizational settings, where verdicts or decisions align with anticipated consequences.

Implications include biased risk assessment, suboptimal policy choices, and increased polarization. The bias can operate unconsciously or consciously and may vary in strength across individuals and domains.

Mitigation strategies include awareness training, preregistration of hypotheses, and decision protocols that separate value judgments from evidence evaluation; blind or independent review processes; seeking disconfirming evidence; and using debiasing techniques such as structured analytic methods and diverse viewpoints.

Related concepts include motivated reasoning, confirmation bias, and belief perseverance.