Biased belief priors versus biased belief updating: Differential correlates of depression and anxiety
Fig 5
Evidence for a confirmation bias for other-referent beliefs.
Parameter estimates for the prior mean (μ0; y-axis) and bias in belief updating (b; x-axis), obtained using the winning model (Model 3: the “biased RW” model), are significantly correlated across participants (r = 0.41, p<0.001); this relationship also holds without the outlier, r = 0.44, p<0.001). Thus, participants, as a group, tend not only to show a confirmation bias when updating beliefs related to themselves (as shown in Fig 4) but also when updating their beliefs about other participants. Here, a confirmation bias means that positive/negative feedback is incorporated more strongly into beliefs when it aligns with prior beliefs.