![]() ![]() If someone denies clear facts you can safely assume that it's their emotions that are leading them away from reality. Studies on a phenomenon called the backfire effect shows when we are presented with facts that cause us to feel bad about our self-worth or worldview, we may sometimes even develop a stronger attachment to the incorrect belief. Research on the confirmation bias shows that we tend to look for and interpret information in ways that conforms to our beliefs. When we see someone believing in something we are confident is false, we need to suspect some emotional block is at play. Our intuition is to confront our colleagues with the facts and arguments, but research – and common sense, if the colleague is your supervisor – suggests that's usually exactly the wrong thing to do. ![]() One of the strategies described there can be summarized under the acronym EGRIP (Emotions, Goals, Rapport, Information, Positive Reinforcement), which provides clear guidelines on how to deal with colleagues who deny the facts. ![]() ![]() It's also the topic of my recently-published Amazon bestseller, The Truth-Seeker's Handbook: A Science-Based Guide. Dealing with truth denialism – in business, politics, and other life areas – is one of my areas of research, consulting, and speaking. ![]()
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