MENTAL MODEL · M6343

Belief Perseverance

BehaviorHigh supportPsychology

Included

Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Even when the evidence supporting a belief has been thoroughly disproven, people stubbornly cling to the original belief. There may even be a "backfire effect" (the more you refute, the more they believe).

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

The petrification of viewpoints. Once a viewpoint becomes part of your identity (e.g., "I am an X-ist"), abandoning it is like suicide. To change a belief, you must first decouple the belief from identity ("On this issue, the current evidence supports...").

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Once a belief is formed, even if the supporting evidence is withdrawn or even disproven, the belief stubbornly persists. This is because the belief is bound to self-identity and existing explanatory frameworks, and people tend to remember "supporting" fragments and forget "refuting" ones. Refutation can actually trigger the "backfire effect"—strengthening the original belief.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

Realize that a belief may be tied to identity
Use phrases like "On this issue, the current evidence supports..." to decouple the belief from the self
Actively seek and seriously consider counterevidence, rather than only collecting supporting evidence
Set a falsifiable standard by asking "If I were wrong, what evidence would convince me?"

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

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Source support: Explicit

link
zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BF%A1%E5%BF%B5%E5%9B%BA%E7%9D%80ZH · Explicit
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