Newsweek: People seek out information that confirms what they believe, sociologist says

An article in Newsweek reports on research by Steven Hoffman, visiting assistant professor of sociology, that shows that some people form and cling to false beliefs about health care reform and other issues despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary thanks to a mental phenomenon called motivated reasoning. "Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information the confirms what they already believe," he said. His research also was the subject of an article on Live Science.