Subjective validation
Encyclopedia
Subjective validation, sometimes called personal validation effect, is a cognitive bias
by which a person will consider a statement or another piece of information to be correct if it has any personal meaning or significance to them. In other words, a person whose opinion is affected by subjective validation will perceive two unrelated events (i.e., a coincidence
) to be related because their personal belief demands that they be related. Closely related to the Forer effect
, subjective validation is an important element in cold reading
. It is considered to be the main reason behind most reports of paranormal phenomena.
Cognitive bias
A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment that occurs in particular situations. Implicit in the concept of a "pattern of deviation" is a standard of comparison; this may be the judgment of people outside those particular situations, or may be a set of independently verifiable...
by which a person will consider a statement or another piece of information to be correct if it has any personal meaning or significance to them. In other words, a person whose opinion is affected by subjective validation will perceive two unrelated events (i.e., a coincidence
Coincidence
A coincidence is an event notable for its occurring in conjunction with other conditions, e.g. another event. As such, a coincidence occurs when something uncanny, accidental and unexpected happens under conditions named, but not under a defined relationship...
) to be related because their personal belief demands that they be related. Closely related to the Forer effect
Forer effect
The Forer effect is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people...
, subjective validation is an important element in cold reading
Cold reading
Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, illusionists, and con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do...
. It is considered to be the main reason behind most reports of paranormal phenomena.
See also
- BeliefBeliefBelief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.-Belief, knowledge and epistemology:The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy....
- True-believer syndromeTrue-believer syndromeTrue-believer syndrome is an informal or rhetorical term coined by M. Lamar Keene in his 1976 book The Psychic Mafia. Keene used the term to refer to people who continued to believe in a paranormal event or phenomenon even after it had been proven to have been staged...
- Self-deceptionSelf-deceptionSelf-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument...
- Self propagandaSelf propagandaSelf-propaganda is a form of propaganda and indoctrination performed by an individual or a group on oneself.-Background:Essentially, it is the act of telling one's self something that they consider to be true, or to convince themselves, with the unfortunate repercussion of their having no doubts...
- Confirmation biasConfirmation biasConfirmation bias is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.David Perkins, a geneticist, coined the term "myside bias" referring to a preference for "my" side of an issue...
- David Marks (psychologist)David Marks (psychologist)David F. Marks is a psychologist who is largely concerned with four areas of psychological research - health psychology, cognitive psychology, parapsychology and IQ score variations...
- List of cognitive biases