Analysis of Relationship between Confirmation Bias and Web Search Behavior

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between web search behavior and confirmation bias, in which people prefer to browse information that supports their existing opinions and beliefs. We conducted an online user experiment in which 89 participants were asked to perform a web search task to obtain health information. In this experiment, we controlled the participants' prior beliefs by presenting them with prior information to manipulate their impressions of a search topic prior to performing the search task. We then analyzed their behavioral logs during the search task. The results demonstrate that participants with confirmation bias frequently browsed only the top search results and completed the search task quickly. The results also indicate that, even if participants with the confirmation bias possessed health literacy, they did not utilize this literacy, even though such literacy is essential when viewing health information on the web critically.