Self-propaganda is the way in which people convince themselves of something regardless of the evidence against it. They will go over their side of the argument without considering the alternative arguments.

Introduction

Self-propaganda is a form of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

and

indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine). Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree ...

performed by an

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

or a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

on oneself. It functions at individual and social levels: political, economic, and religious. It hides behind partial truths and ignores questions of

critical thought Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysi ...

. The psychological process of utilizing self-propaganda can negatively influence values and beliefs, and subsequent perceptions and judgments, thus becoming a

self-fulfilling prophecy A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's or group of persons' belief or expectation that said prediction would come true. This suggests that people's beliefs influence their actions. T ...

. Self-propaganda can also be a form of self-deception. Those whose values match the self deceptions are even further impacted.

Confirmation bias Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring ...

and

cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person's actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environmen ...

can cause people to further perpetuate the propaganda, reaffirming or reinforcing their beliefs despite contradicting evidence.

Historical context

Propaganda is most successful when self- propaganda is also involved. Self-propaganda makes it easier for individuals to justify their own actions as well as the actions of others. This can be due in part to the fact that belief in actions can greatly reduce cognitive dissonance. Historically propaganda is widely associated with wartime measures and justifications. One of the most well-known examples of Propaganda's ability to allow individuals to convince themselves is During World-War 2. At this time Nazi Germany had large propaganda campaigns against the Jews. While self propaganda does make such government efforts of propaganda more effective, self-propaganda can also refer to any lie that individuals tell themselves or becomes convinced of.

Examples

Social media

filter bubble A filter bubble or ideological frame is a state of intellectual isolationTechnopediaDefinition – What does Filter Bubble mean?, Retrieved October 10, 2017, "....A filter bubble is the intellectual isolation, that can occur when websites make us ...

or "Algorithmic editing" • These methods work by joining a group that limits what information can be seen within a certain group. In 2016 Facebook came under criticism for doing this, showing users posts that reflect with what they already believe and agree with. Speculation arose that Facebook was polarizing users for the 2016 United States presidential election, and was further developing their bias towards their preconceived beliefs.

• Confirmation bias often manifests through

self-verification Self-verification is a social psychological theory that asserts people want to be known and understood by others according to their firmly held beliefs and feelings about themselves, that is ''self-views'' (including self-concepts and self-este ...

and

self-enhancement Self-enhancement is a type of motivation that works to make people feel good about themselves and to maintain self-esteem. This motive becomes especially prominent in situations of threat, failure or blows to one's self-esteem. Self-enhancement i ...

. People are less likely to remember information that conflicts their beliefs or appears negative to what they expect.

Communal reinforcement Communal reinforcement is a social phenomenon in which a concept or idea is repeatedly asserted in a community, regardless of whether sufficient empirical evidence has been presented to support it. Over time, the concept or idea is reinforced t ...

• Repeated assertion within a group about a belief that the group takes for truth. Often this is done without fully researching the subject or gathering supporting evidence. A beneficial use for this form could be self/group motivation. A group of

Alcoholic's Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...

reaffirming one another that they are strong and can conquer their addiction is a positive form of communal reinforcement.

Echo chamber Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technology Hamilton Mausoleum has a long-lasting unplanned echo An echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce reverberation, usually for recording purposes. For example, the producers of ...

• The members within a group who obtain information only from within their group. While a filter bubble is created by algorithms online, echo chambers are created by purposely choosing who you associate with and from whom you receive your information. American psychology professor Nicholas DiFonzo found that when Republicans and Democrats were separated and asked to discuss rumors about the other party, they would polarize. However, as the groups were mixed, polarization was significantly decreased. • Online forums, such as

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...

, have often been associated with echo chambers. A group known as "

incel An incel ( , an abbreviation of "involuntary celibate") is a member of an online subculture of people who define themselves as unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. Discussions in incel forums are often character ...

s" has received much media attention. This group of "involuntarily celibate" individuals would post often about how they felt they were being wronged by society for what they viewed as bad genetics. Some were pushed into extremism thoughts, and a few committed mass murders.Zack Beauchamp (2018) "Incel, the misogynist ideology that inspired the deadly Toronto attack, explained"
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Application to cognitive psychology

Self-propaganda is closely related to self-deception and cognitive dissonance.

References

{{Reflist Cognitive biases Propaganda techniques

Introduction

Historical context

Examples

Application to cognitive psychology

See also

References