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Sources of Biases> Motivational Skepticism

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Skepticism
Motivational Skepticism
Definition: Internalism
Internalism & Externalism
Gettier Problem & Justified Belief
Real-Life Application
Key Points: Motivational Skepticism

CISCE: Class 12

Skepticism

Skepticism means doubt about whether human action is or could be directed by reason
It is an attitude of doubting the qualities or characteristics of a person or object

CISCE: Class 12

Motivational Skepticism

Motivational skepticism is a bias in which past negative impressions or experiences lead a person to doubt someone and make judgments without objective evidence.
Past reasons or justifications make a person perceive situations in a biased way.
Many day-to-day attributions about people and objects are colored by this bias.

CISCE: Class 12

Definition: Internalism

Internalism refers to the false belief or bias that an explanation can be given about a particular subject in question by pointing to things that are internal to the person, like his intelligence, memory, emotional feeling, and for which the person himself is responsible and not any external factor like another person or bad weather, or traffic jam, etc.

CISCE: Class 12

Internalism & Externalism

Two factors determine motivational skepticism: internalism and externalism
Internalism: behaviour is explained by things internal to the person — intelligence, memory, emotions, personality; the person is held responsible.
Externalism: behaviour is explained by the environment or situation — traffic jam, bad weather, another person's actions; the person is not held responsible.
In motivational skepticism, the biased perceiver favours internalism and dismisses external causes.

CISCE: Class 12

Gettier Problem & Justified Belief

Gettier (1963) showed that someone can be justified in believing something that is actually false.
From that false belief, a further belief can be inferred that is coincidentally true.
Gettier concluded: justified belief does not necessarily equal knowledge.
What justifies our beliefs can fail to eliminate the risk of error.
In motivational skepticism, past bias may "justify" a negative belief — but it can still be completely wrong.

CISCE: Class 12

Real-Life Application

At home: suspecting a visitor based on old grudges.
At work: doubting an employee's genuine excuse.
In social life: attributing negative qualities to people based on bias, not evidence.

CISCE: Class 12

Key Points: Motivational Skepticism

Skepticism is an attitude of doubt about a person's actions or qualities.
Motivational skepticism occurs when past negative impressions lead to biased judgments without evidence.
Internalism explains behaviour in terms of internal factors such as intelligence, memory, or emotions.
In this bias, people blame the person and ignore situational factors.
Gettier (1963) showed that a belief may seem justified but can still be wrong.