Cited by 1,157Decision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsSocial and Intergroup PsychologyMemory Processes and Influences

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Mental contamination and mental correction: Unwanted influences on judgments and evaluations.

Wilson, Timothy D., Brekke, Nancy·1994·Psychological Bulletin

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Abstract

We define mental contamination as the process whereby a person has an unwanted response because of mental processing that is unconscious or uncontrollable. This type of bias is distinguishable from the failure to know or apply normative rules of inference and can be further divided into the unwanted consequences of automatic processing and source confusion, which is the confusion of 2 or more causes of a response. Mental contamination is difficult to avoid because it results from both fundamental properties of human cognition (e.g., a lack of awareness of mental processes) and faulty lay beliefs about the mind (e.g., incorrect theories about mental biases). People's lay beliefs determine the steps they take (or fail to take) to correct their judgments and thus are an important but neglected source of biased responses. Strategies for avoiding contamination, such as controlling one's exposure to biasing information, are discussed.

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Brand name influence on brand perception
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The Momentary Realist
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“Furthermore, as Wilson and Brekke (1994) have argued, correction is only as good as the naive theories on which it depends, and to the extent that people have incorrect beliefs about their own dispositions (“I’m a very open-minded person”), their attempts at correction may make matters worse rather than better (“So if…”
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“Once participants accept the presupposition as true and memory has been contaminated by the forced fabrication interview, the effects persist and cannot be reversed completely (Chambers & Zaragoza, 2001; Geiselman et al. (1986), Lane et al., 2001; cf. Wilson & Brekke, 1994 ).”
Background
The Heuristics and Biases Approach to Judgment Under Uncertainty
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“Instead, such alternative construals represent mental contamination (Wilson & Brekke, 1994) that the subjects would choose to avoid.”
Cognitive bias in forensic mental health assessment: Evaluator beliefs about its nature and scope.
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“Decades of research overwhelmingly suggest that cognitive bias operates automatically (Klayman & Ha, 1997) and without awareness (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977), and cannot be eliminated through willpower alone (Wilson & Brekke, 1994).”
Background
Explaining the persistent influence of facial cues in social decision-making.
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“Alternatively, warned participants might correct their truth judgments insufficiently or even overcorrect their judgments (Wilson & Brekke, 1994).”
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Decisions by coin toss: Inappropriate but fair
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“Unlike human decision makers, appropriate random procedures (like a fair coin) are not contaminated (Wilson & Brekke, 1994) by unwarranted biases that may interfere in the decision process in an undesired manner.”
When dreaming is believing: The (motivated) interpretation of dreams.
Morewedge, C. K., & Norton, M. I. (2009) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0013264 · Cited by 84
“Most important for our account, when people become aware that their thoughts may have been externally generated, as when primed supraliminally, they attempt to correct for those external influences (Schwarz & Bless, 1992; Wegener & Petty, 1995, 1997; Wilson & Brekke, 1994 ).”
Background
Context Effects in Leadership Perception
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Context Effects from Bodily Sensations: Examining Bodily Sensations Induced by Flooring and the Moderating Role of Product Viewing Distance
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“…cues that activate such sensations (i.e., the sunny or rainy weather or, in our case, the texture of the flooring), relevant thoughts or concepts are triggered by these cues, and these conceptual thoughts—not people’s sensations per se—are actually responsible for any observed assimilation effect.”
Background
Mental Contamination and the Debiasing Problem
Wilson, T. D., Centerbar, D. B., & Brekke, N. (2002) · Heuristics and Biases · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.012 · Cited by 160
Self-citation
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Mood and the correction of positive versus negative stereotypes.
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Authors: Wilson, T. D., & Brekke, N.
Affiliations: University of Virginia (US)
Venue: Psychological Bulletin
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1994
Volume: 116
Issue: 1
Pages: 117-142
ISSN: 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
1939-1455
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.116.1.117
OpenAlex: W2035370986
Semantic Scholar: 713d6a95d5409a9a7ffcd4ae4337078e4851ccf4
Cited by: 1,157
References: 171
Citations by year: 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 43 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 45
FWCI: 12.74
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Institutes of Health (5r01mh041841-10)
National Institute of Mental Health (MH41841)
Topics: Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords: mental contamination, judgment bias, automatic processing, source confusion, unconscious processes, metacognition
MeSH terms: Cognition, Humans, Judgment, Mental Processes

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Mental contamination and mental correction: Unwanted influences on judgments and evaluations.

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