Chapter 9 - Do Cultural Misbeliefs Cause Costly Behavior?
from Evolutionary Psychology of Beliefs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2022
Summary
Cultural misbeliefs are false beliefs that are widely spread through social transmission, such as rumors or conspiracy theories. These misbeliefs are often feared to cause much damage, as people engage in costly actions on their basis. However, it is possible for people to hold a belief in such a way that the belief only has limited impact on their thoughts or behavior – if they hold a belief reflectively, by contrast with intuitively. Here, we argue that (i) most cultural misbeliefs are held reflectively and that (ii) they rarely directly cause costly behavior. We note that different cultures use different misbeliefs to justify similar behaviors, suggesting that the beliefs are secondary to the behavior. Moreover, misbeliefs usually do not have the consequences they would have if they were held intuitively, causing other types of (usually less costly) behaviors instead.
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- The Cognitive Science of BeliefA Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 193 - 208Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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