TY  - RPRT
A1  - Grunewald, Andreas
A1  - Klockmann, Victor
A1  - von Schenk, Alicia
A1  - von Siemens, Ferdinand A.
T1  - Are Biases Contagious? The Influence of Communication on Motivated Beliefs
N2  - This paper examines the potential reinforcement of motivated beliefs when individuals with identical biases communicate. We propose a controlled online experiment that allows to manipulate belief biases and the communication environment. We find that communication, even among like-minded individuals, diminishes motivated beliefs if it takes place in an environment without previously declared external opinions. In the presence of external plural opinions, however, communication does not reduce but rather aggravates motivated beliefs. Our results indicate a potential drawback of the plurality of opinions - it may create communication environments wherein motivated beliefs not only persist but also become contagious within social networks.
T3  - Würzburg Economic Papers (W. E. P.) - 109 
KW  - Bias
KW  - belief bias
KW  - social interaction
KW  - motivated beliefs
Y1  - 2024
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-348936
ER  -