THE IMPACT OF GROUP DISCUSSION ON THE THEORY PERSEVERANCE BIAS

The theory-perseverance bias was investigated in 3 related studies. In Study 1, a test of the hypothesis that group discussion attenuates th is bias, male and female Canadian undergraduates examined information suggesting that either a positive or a negative relationship exists be tween risk preference and firefighting performance; they were then inf ormed that this information was fictitious. They then recorded their b eliefs regarding the actual relationship between these variables (a) i mmediately, (b) after 7 min of thought, (c) after a 7-min group discus sion, or (d) after perusing a transcript of one of the discussions. On ly the participants in the first condition made biased judgments. Stud y 2, which used Vinokur and Burnstein's (1974) procedures and which ag ain drew a sample of Canadian students, provided support for a persuas ive-arguments explanation of this group-discussion effect. The results of Study 3, which used procedures similar to those of Study 1, ruled out a social-comparison explanation for this effect. Factors that migh t enhance or diminish the effects of group discussion on this bias are suggested.