Social influence determines the way that a person could affect another person’s thoughts or actions. Controversial issues are widely known subjects that cause people to develop conflicting opinions (Duff & Peace, 2012). An individual may create their own opinion based on what they know from another person’s thoughts about a topic rather than gathering information on their own. An area of middle ground may be formulated when two opposing sides of an argument come together to form a possible agreement about an issue (Duff & Peace, 2012). Controversial issues such as; abortion, assisted suicide, and global warming have created debates based on opposing opinions causing people to divide.
The legalization of abortion has continuously divided our country for years dating back to before the 1970’s (Torr, 2006). Abortion is the termination of a human pregnancy. This process is usually completed during the first 28 weeks of the pregnancy (Torr, 2006). Individuals debating abortion are either “Pro Life” or “Pro Choice”. Someone who may be “Pro Life” are those who believe that any pregnant woman should not have the legal right to terminate her pregnancy. Those who are “Pro Choice” believe that you should have the legal right to terminate your pregnancy. Conformation bias is the tendency to notice information that confirms one’s beliefs and to ignore information that disconfirms one’s beliefs (Duff & Peace, 2012).
If a person who is Pro Life is presented with reasons as to why abortion should be legal, such as; the choice to reproduce is a form of empowerment to women because it allows them to have control over their own bodies. Pro life individuals may say something like; life begins at the point of conception therefore unborn babies are human beings with the right to live. Conformation bias is shown here because pro life advocates will ignore any information given that goes against their own beliefs and continue to believe in their own thoughts. Additionally, individuals may have difficulty finding middle ground on abortion because they may think that people having a chance at life without considering the child’s parents and surroundings may not be a good enough reason to get an abortion. This could also be true with others reasons as well. Pro Life individuals may never think that abortion should be legal while Pro Choice individuals believe that abortion should be a choice.
Another controversial issue that is discussed extensively is assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is the death of a patient suffering from a terminal disease, made by the use of lethal drugs provided by a physician (Ondrey, 2006). Physicians use differential construal while judging circumstances and using their judgments in the process of medical decisions (Duff & Peace, 2012). One of the reasons why the issue of assisted suicide has been on the rise most recently is in the result of the advancement of medical technology (Ondrey, 2006). Medicine is improving progressively in many aspects especially in the world of introducing new treatment and diagnostic practice to the medical world. People who have ranges of diseases and illnesses are now able to be cared for longer and ultimately resulting in longer survival.
Individuals may find it hard to deal with the fact that their loved ones may be dying. Assisted suicide may result in those loved ones being taken from them even sooner based on the quality of life given or for the best interest of the family. Conformation bias in this concept could be explained by those not realizing that their family member may be better off dying rather than living with the quality of life left from their terminal disease or illness. Finding middle ground in the idea of medicine is one the most difficult things to understand. People may have belief perseverance when in the situation of making life or death medical decisions (Duff & Peace, 2012). If someone is having to decide whether or not to keep their loved one alive based on a terminal illness they may not necessarily care about the quality of life presented rather than just having that person around. Common ground may be found in improving the care of those who are dying.
One last issue that is discussed to be controversial is global warming. Global warming is a term used to describe the increase of the average annual global temperature of the Earth (Drake, 2000). The science of climate change is an ongoing public debate. The controversy now is more political based than scientific (Drake, 2000). Global warming is now considered to be based on human activity which could be an example of illusion of control. The perception of uncontrollable events from happening as being controlled such as the rising temperatures causing the polar ice caps to melt. Conformation bias in action can lead people to believe that global warming and climate change equals warmer weather based on what they already think. They may not pay attention to scientific data differing what they believe is true. Finding common ground in the idea of global warming between believers and doubters is the idea that people may believe that their efforts to be more environmentally friendly are not enough to “change the world”.