Belief‐consistent information processing or coherence‐based reasoning: integrating two parsimonious frameworks for biases

Abstract

Recently, two independently published papers put forward separate frameworks to explain several different biases. Although thetwo frameworks do not contradict each other, their mere co-existence is an unsatisfactory state as psychological theory is notadvanced. In the present outlook paper, we make a first attempt in bringing the two frameworks together – and with it, the largelyunconnected research strands they come from. Specifically, we focus on the (bi-)directionality of a coherence generating processunderlying the core of the one framework – coherence-based reasoning (CBR) – and argue that one direction is largely consistentwith the core process of the other framework: belief-consistent information processing (BCIP). We elaborate on the circumstancesunder which coherence will be more likely obtained via BCIP. In doing so, we derive some predictions that future research couldtest. Furthermore, we point to relevant open questions and outline several recommendations for future research.