In bias, meta is max

Abstract

A recent Science review notes our worst bias is meta – being more aware of biases makes us more willing to assume that others’ biases, and not ours, are responsible for our disagreement: Because people often do not recognize when personal biases and idiosyncratic interpretations have shaped their judgments and preferences, they often take for granted that others will share those judgments and preferences. When others do not, people’s faith in their own objectivity often prompts them to view those others as biased. Indeed, people show a broad and pervasive tendency to see (and even exaggerate) the impact of bias on others’ judgments while denying its influence on their own.