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The Bias That Divides Us

The Science and Politics of Myside Thinking

Author Keith E. Stanovich

Paperback

$25.00 US

The MIT Press

6.06"W x 9"H x 0.66"D (15.4 x 22.9 x 1.7 cm) | 11 oz (301 g) | 29 per carton

On sale Mar 24, 2026 | 256 Pages | 9780262053952

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Nonfiction > Politics > Domestic Politics
Nonfiction > Psychology

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Why we don't live in a post-truth society but rather a myside society: what science tells us about the bias that poisons our politics.

In The Bias That Divides Us, psychologist Keith Stanovich argues provocatively that we don’t live in a post-truth society, as has been claimed, but rather a myside society. Our problem is not that we are unable to value and respect truth and facts but that we are unable to agree on commonly accepted truth and facts. We believe that our side knows the truth. Post-truth? That describes the other side. The inevitable result is political polarization. Stanovich shows what science can tell us about myside bias: how common it is, how to avoid it, and what purposes it serves.

Preface
Acknowledgments
1 The Many Faces of Myside Bias
2 Is Myside Processing Irrational?
3 Myside Thinking: The Outlier Bias
4 Where Do Our Convictions Come From? Implications for Understanding Myside Bias
5 The Myside Blindness of Cognitive Elites
6 What Should We Do about Myside Bias?
Notes
References
Subject Index
Name Index

Keith E. Stanovich is Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the University of Toronto. He is the author of What Intelligence Tests Miss, for which he received the 2010 Grawemeyer Award in Education, and coauthor of The Rationality Quotient: Toward a Test of Rational Thinking (MIT Press). In 2012, Stanovich received the E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Keith E. Stanovich View titles by Keith E. Stanovich

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Preface
Acknowledgments
1 The Many Faces of Myside Bias
2 Is Myside Processing Irrational?
3 Myside Thinking: The Outlier Bias
4 Where Do Our Convictions Come From? Implications for Understanding Myside Bias
5 The Myside Blindness of Cognitive Elites
6 What Should We Do about Myside Bias?
Notes
References
Subject Index
Name Index

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About

Why we don't live in a post-truth society but rather a myside society: what science tells us about the bias that poisons our politics.

In The Bias That Divides Us, psychologist Keith Stanovich argues provocatively that we don’t live in a post-truth society, as has been claimed, but rather a myside society. Our problem is not that we are unable to value and respect truth and facts but that we are unable to agree on commonly accepted truth and facts. We believe that our side knows the truth. Post-truth? That describes the other side. The inevitable result is political polarization. Stanovich shows what science can tell us about myside bias: how common it is, how to avoid it, and what purposes it serves.

Praise

Preface
Acknowledgments
1 The Many Faces of Myside Bias
2 Is Myside Processing Irrational?
3 Myside Thinking: The Outlier Bias
4 Where Do Our Convictions Come From? Implications for Understanding Myside Bias
5 The Myside Blindness of Cognitive Elites
6 What Should We Do about Myside Bias?
Notes
References
Subject Index
Name Index

Author

Keith E. Stanovich is Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the University of Toronto. He is the author of What Intelligence Tests Miss, for which he received the 2010 Grawemeyer Award in Education, and coauthor of The Rationality Quotient: Toward a Test of Rational Thinking (MIT Press). In 2012, Stanovich received the E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Keith E. Stanovich View titles by Keith E. Stanovich

Rights

Available for sale exclusive:

• Afghanistan

• Aland Islands

• Albania

• Algeria

• Andorra

• Angola

• Anguilla

• Antarctica

• Antigua/Barbuda

• Argentina

• Armenia

• Aruba

• Australia

• Austria

• Azerbaijan

• Bahamas

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Barbados

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Belize

• Benin

• Bermuda

• Bhutan

• Bolivia

• Bonaire, Saba

• Bosnia Herzeg.

• Botswana

• Bouvet Island

• Brazil

• Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter

• Brit.Virgin Is.

• Brunei

• Bulgaria

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Cameroon

• Canada

• Cape Verde

• Cayman Islands

• Centr.Afr.Rep.

• Chad

• Chile

• China

• Christmas Islnd

• Cocos Islands

• Colombia

• Comoro Is.

• Congo

• Cook Islands

• Costa Rica

• Croatia

• Cuba

• Curacao

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Dem. Rep. Congo

• Denmark

• Djibouti

• Dominica

• Dominican Rep.

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• El Salvador

• Equatorial Gui.

• Eritrea

• Estonia

• Ethiopia

• Falkland Islnds

• Faroe Islands

• Fiji

• Finland

• France

• Fren.Polynesia

• French Guinea

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Georgia

• Germany

• Ghana

• Gibraltar

• Greece

• Greenland

• Grenada

• Guadeloupe

• Guam

• Guatemala

• Guernsey

• Guinea Republic

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Haiti

• Heard/McDon.Isl

• Honduras

• Hong Kong

• Hungary

• Iceland

• India

• Indonesia

• Iran

• Iraq

• Ireland

• Isle of Man

• Israel

• Italy

• Ivory Coast

• Jamaica

• Japan

• Jersey

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Kiribati

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Laos

• Latvia

• Lebanon

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libya

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Macau

• Macedonia

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Malaysia

• Maldives

• Mali

• Malta

• Marshall island

• Martinique

• Mauritania

• Mauritius

• Mayotte

• Mexico

• Micronesia

• Minor Outl.Ins.

• Moldavia

• Monaco

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• Montserrat

• Morocco

• Mozambique

• Myanmar

• Namibia

• Nauru

• Nepal

• Netherlands

• New Caledonia

• New Zealand

• Nicaragua

• Niger

• Nigeria

• Niue

• Norfolk Island

• North Korea

• North Mariana

• Norway

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Palau

• Palestinian Ter

• Panama

• PapuaNewGuinea

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Philippines

• Pitcairn Islnds

• Poland

• Portugal

• Puerto Rico

• Qatar

• Reunion Island

• Romania

• Russian Fed.

• Rwanda

• S. Sandwich Ins

• Saint Martin

• Samoa,American

• San Marino

• SaoTome Princip

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Serbia

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Singapore

• Sint Maarten

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Korea

• South Sudan

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• St Barthelemy

• St. Helena

• St. Lucia

• St. Vincent

• St.Chr.,Nevis

• St.Pier,Miquel.

• Sth Terr. Franc

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Svalbard

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Syria

• Tadschikistan

• Taiwan

• Tanzania

• Thailand

• Timor-Leste

• Togo

• Tokelau Islands

• Tonga

• Trinidad,Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Turkmenistan

• Turks&Caicos Is

• Tuvalu

• US Virgin Is.

• USA

• Uganda

• Ukraine

• Unit.Arab Emir.

• United Kingdom

• Uruguay

• Uzbekistan

• Vanuatu

• Vatican City

• Venezuela

• Vietnam

• Wallis,Futuna

• West Saharan

• Western Samoa

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
1 The Many Faces of Myside Bias
2 Is Myside Processing Irrational?
3 Myside Thinking: The Outlier Bias
4 Where Do Our Convictions Come From? Implications for Understanding Myside Bias
5 The Myside Blindness of Cognitive Elites
6 What Should We Do about Myside Bias?
Notes
References
Subject Index
Name Index

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