People who are less confident in their beliefs are more reluctant than others to seek out opposing perspectives, researchers said today.

    The findings, which are based on a review of more than 90 studies, shed light on the debate over whether people intentionally steer clear of views conflicting with their own, or whether they are just exposed more often to ideas that conform to their own.

    The former seems to be the case. Another recent study revealed that college students gravitated toward news that fit their views.

    While it's not news that like-minded people often flock together, the new review suggests we actively keep our blinders on when opposing views are nearby. The review is detailed this month in the journal Psychological Bulletin.

    Some more so than others …

    Overall, the studies suggested people are about twice as likely to cherry-pick information that supports their own viewpoints than to consider an opposing idea. Nearly 70 percent cherry-picked compared to about 30 percent who ponder the other side.

    Close-minded individuals opted for information that went along with their views 75 percent of the time.

    "Close-minded people are very certain and dogmatic in their views, and generally believe that there is a single correct point of view," said study researcher Dolores Albarracin, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "The implication is that you have a group of people who would only seek to confirm their points of view, resisting all evidence to the contrary via avoidance of exposure."

    And since even a slight breeze could flatten a house of cards, the researchers found people with little confidence in their own beliefs are less likely to expose themselves to contrary views compared with their confident counterparts. In fact, another recent study showed that people with stronger party affiliation and greater interest in politics were more likely to read articles with opposing views.

    The new study, however, found politics can prompt blinders: People are more reluctant to look at different viewpoints regarding political, religious or ethical values, the studies showed. Specifically, study participants stuck with their own ideas 70 percent of the time when it came to issues of moral values or politics, compared with 60 percent for other issues.

    "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," Albarracin said.

    Political and moral views are more open to personal interpretation anyway, than for example some scientific concept. "Political and moral issues are more inherently a personal judgment," Albarracin told LiveScience. "There is no risk of experiencing the effects of being inaccurate as you have in science. Hence people are free to seek information that confirms their attitudes pretty exclusively."

    When you need the opposition

    Sometimes you can't avoid the opposition, and it can even benefit you. The researchers found that politicians and others who need to publicly defend themselves are motivated to learn about opposing ideas.

    For practical matters, different viewpoints are also necessary. "If you're going to buy a house and you really like the house, you're still going to have it inspected," Albarracin said.

    Similarly, even if you trust your surgeon, you are likely to seek out a second opinion regarding a major operation, she added.

    對自己的觀點缺乏信心的人，會更傾向于回避對立意見，研究者們今日發布消息說。

    這項發現是在總結了90多份研究成果的基礎上得出的。該發現無疑對于解決長久以來的爭論--人們到底是有意識地屏蔽相抵觸的觀點，還是僅僅更經常接觸到相似觀點--具有啟發性的意義。

    正確的似乎是前者。近日的另一項研究也表明，大學生更傾向看符合自己觀點的新聞。

    盡管此類消息并非關于"物以類聚，人以群分",然而，新的發現的確表明：當我們碰到對立觀點，會有意地視而不見。該發現的內容詳見本月《心理學公報》。

    哪種人更固執？

    總的來說，據調查顯示，人們篩選出符合己見的信息的概率約為考慮相左觀點的兩倍--前者占近70%,而后者約占30%.

    思想保守者尤甚。他們75%的時候都選擇性地只看相似觀點。

    "保守的人對自己的觀點很確信，也很固執。他們通常都相信有唯一正確的答案存在。" 研究調查者之一、伊利諾伊大學香檳分校的心理學教授，道羅瑞斯·阿爾芭瑞熙（ Dolores Albarracin）,如此評說道。"這就意味著，有那么一群只固執自己觀點的人，他們對于所有指向相反觀點的證據，一律采取視而不見的方法加以抵制、拒絕。"'

    如同"紙牌堆砌的房子，一縷微風就可以吹倒"所揭示的一樣，研究者們發現，對于己見動搖者比自信的人更傾向于回避相左的觀點。事實上，近日另一份研究表明，入黨人士和對政治感興趣的人，會較多閱讀對立觀點的文章。

    然而，最近這項新發現卻表明，政治也可能加厚人們的有色眼鏡：在政治、宗教和倫理問題上，人們尤其回避與自己不同的觀點。具體來說，若討論的是道德或政治，人們70%的時間會僅僅固守自己觀點；而若討論其他問題，這一概率則降至60%.

    "如果你真的對自己的想法堅定不移--比如說，你是個堅定的民主黨員--那么你確會更傾向于搜尋與自己相宜的信息，即與自己的觀點相一致的信息。"阿爾芭瑞熙說。

    確實，不管怎么說，政治和道德的觀點均是依據個人的理解而定，不比其它--如科學概念。"政治、道德問題本身就是基于個人的判斷。" 阿爾芭瑞熙告訴"生活科學"網說。"畢竟，討論科學問題你可能出錯，討論政、道問題卻沒有這種風險。因此人們可以自由地篩選出只與他們態度相符合的觀點。"

    你什么時候需要對立意見？

    有時候你無法回避對立面--它可能甚至于你有益。研究者們發現，政治家們以及其他需要當眾維護個人觀點的人，往往因此而受激勵得去了解相反意見。

    在日常實際問題中，不同的意見也不可或缺。"如果你要買房，你已經看上了一幢自己很中意的房子，你也依然需要叫上其他人幫你參考。"阿爾芭瑞熙說。

    她又補充道，同樣地，即使你十分相信你的外科醫生，也需要在動一個大手術前多多聽取第三方意見。