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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BackgroundMethod
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“Mill stated that ‘he who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that’, and the literature cited in this review indicates that human beings are not effective at seeing the flaws in their own reasoning when they concern beliefs that are central to their own identity (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977; Wilson and Bre…”
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Background

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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