Illinois study shows that we hear what we want to hear
My sister calls it “man ears”
As in, “He’s not listening. He’s got his man ears on.”
It’s a slightly feminist take on the idea of selective hearing, or rather how we hear what we want to hear. Or rather how good information gets retained.
Now, a study out of the University of Illinois supports that idea.
Published recently in the Psychological Bulletin, the study shows that people tend to seek out information that supports their own point of view rather than considering an opposing idea.
“If you are really committed to your own attitude - for example, if you are a very committed Democrat - you are more likely to seek congenial information, that is, information that corresponds with your views,” said University of Illinois Professor Dolores Albarracin. “If the issues concern moral values or politics, about 70 percent of the time you will choose congenial information, versus about 60 percent of the time if the issues are not related to values.”
The researchers found that people are more likely to expose themselves to opposing ideas only when it is useful to them.
(3 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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Kim McGuire joined the Post-Dispatch in August 2007. She has covered the environment for almost 10 years while working at The Denver Post and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In 2004, McGuire was named a Ted Scripps fellow in environmental journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder. 
This is not new and has been part of the study of Communication Theory for decades. It is easier to flock to ideas that are more in line with what you already believe and your are more likely to tune out things that don’t fall in line with your ideas or beliefs.
I know about this. I work with a guy that sometimes answers and sometimes doesn’t. He says it is because he doesn’t want to hear me, but it is due to the fact that he is an idiot.
I don’t think flocking to ideas that are similar to yours is the same as selective hearing.
You’re right Chris. Selective hearing is not the same as gravitating toward those of like mind. The study, which is actually a compendium, goes in to much more detail about the process of listening and how we cull through the information that’s presented to us. I cut out a great deal of information and in hindsight I can see how the blog posting didn’t connect the dots between the two ideas. My apologies.
I know a guy who is traditional conservative who spends a lot of time listening to conservative talk radio. I could never understand the point. He already knows what he believes so why does he need to liste to people discussing it? I would think it would be more interesting to listen to people discussing something different.
Oh…I’m sorry… what were you saying?
This connects with the idea that the brain exstablishes firing patterns in the brain that become hard wired.
The brain is plastic in this and can be altered or trained.
It also speaks to the discipline of choosing what you are going to listen for. It provides the ability to hear again something anew. This is paticulary fun in the arts, literature, and music.
Poetry is abundant with opportunity to shift your listening from old patterns to new.