What Is the Backfire Effect and Why Do We Believe False Beliefs?

Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you realize the other person isn’t really listening, and instead, they seem to believe in their own views even more strongly? This is how one of the cognitive biases works—the backfire effect. Let’s explore why it happens and what you can do about it.

How the Backfire Effect Works

The more you try to prove someone wrong, the more they start to believe in their own convictions. That’s the backfire effect in action. This cognitive bias causes us to reject or ignore facts that contradict our beliefs. As a result, any attempts to persuade someone often become useless.

The backfire effect occurs when a person is motivated to defend their worldview, because any refutation challenges their belief system, according to the authors of the study “Searching for the Backfire Effect: Measurement and Design Considerations.”

Journalist David McRaney examined the phenomenon in detail and gave the following example. In 2006, Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler from the University of Michigan and Georgia State University wrote several articles about key political events. Participants were first asked to read one article, then another that refuted the previous one. For example, one article claimed that the U.S. had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The next stated that the U.S. had never found such weapons. Liberals denied the first article and agreed with the second. Militarists and conservatives, on the other hand, rejected the second article. When conservatives learned that no weapons had actually been found, they became even more convinced that there really were weapons in Iraq and that their original beliefs were correct.

There are other studies demonstrating the backfire effect. In one, researchers looked at voters’ preferences and found that exposing people to negative information about a political candidate they supported only increased their support for that candidate.

Another study examined parents’ attitudes toward vaccines. Those who were against vaccination became even more convinced of a link between vaccines and autism when told otherwise. The same happened with those opposed to the flu shot—the more they were persuaded to get vaccinated, the more they resisted.

Why the Backfire Effect Happens

When a person encounters information that threatens their existing beliefs, they start to experience a range of negative emotions. This is especially likely when the topic is important to their self-esteem. Negative emotions make it harder to accept corrective information, increasing the likelihood that a person will refuse to process it and instead find ways to dismiss it.

The fact that people often try to ignore and reject corrective information leads to the backfire effect. In particular, when trying to reject new information, people first recall their previous knowledge to use in arguments, which can actually strengthen those beliefs in their minds and increase their support for their original views.

Additionally, when people strongly oppose unwanted information, they often come up with even more arguments to support their position.

How to Reduce the Backfire Effect

• Start by learning about this effect and recognizing that anyone can be influenced by it.
• If you notice that your conversation partner is becoming even more convinced of their beliefs during a debate, avoid confrontation—it will only make things worse. Try to rephrase your point of view and offer alternative perspectives on the issue.
• Of course, the main tool against cognitive biases is critical thinking, which should be developed regularly.