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What is Motivated Reasoning?

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Motivated reasoning is the tendency for desires and fears to influence rational thought processes. It other words, people may seek a logical reason to do what they want as opposed to using logic to discover the optimal thing to do.
It is often easy for an individual to come up with a few logical arguments to support a choice that they want to make. However, there may be better arguments for an alternative choice that an individual may fail to explore. For example, an individual may support the decision to buy a luxury car that's beyond their budget with the argument that it's safer. However, they may fail to check if there are cheaper cars with a similar safety profile.
Overview: Motivated Reasoning
Type
Cognitive Biases
Definition
Logic that is designed to support motivations such as desires and fears.
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Types Of Thought
Logic

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