The Cost of Conviction

A timely and important perspective on how people frame decisions and how relying on sacred values unwittingly leads to social polarization.

When you are faced with a decision, do you consider the best outcome, or do you consider your deepest values about which actions are appropriate? The Cost of Conviction contrasts these two primary strategies for making decisions: consequentialism or prioritizing one’s sacred values. Steven Sloman argues that, while both modes of decision making are necessary tools for a good decision maker, people err by deploying sacred values more often than they should, especially when it comes to sociopolitical issues. As a result, we oversimplify, grow disgusted and angry, and act in ways that contribute to social polarization. In this book, Sloman provides a new understanding of today’s societal ills and grounds that understanding in science.

Drawing on historical and current examples of the two decision-making strategies in action, the author provides a thorough overview of the psychology of decision making, including work on judgment, conscious and unconscious decision-making processes, the roles of emotion, and even an analysis of habit and addiction. With its unique emphasis on sacred values, The Cost of Conviction is an eye-opening must-read for all decision makers, especially those who wish to understand judgment, social decision making, and leadership.1 What This Book Is About 1
2 Why Sacred Values Are Essential 13
3 Why Sacred Values are Dangerous 33
4 Making Decisions by Consequences 51
5 The Art of Belief: How People Think About What Is 73
6 Beliefs About How Things Work 91
7 Values (the Nonsacred Kind) 113
8 Simplifying Choice 133
9 How Should I Choose? Consequentialism versus Sacred Values 153
10 What About Decisions That Don't Involve Thinking? 169
11 How to Do the Right Thing 185
12 Bottling Up Outrage 205
Acknowledgments 215
Notes 217
Index 239"Fluidly translating cognitive science and philosophical concepts into accessible prose, Sloman persuasively reveals how a well-meaning yet myopic focus on principles alone oversimplifies discourse and promotes identity politics. Readers will be edified."
— Publisher's Weekly

"The Cost of Conviction offers valuable insights and a thoughtful lens for reflecting our own values and decision-making processes."
—School Administrator“One of psychology’s most astute minds takes the reader on a penetrating and timely tour of the psychological processes responsible for the culture wars and polarizing rhetoric we see all around us—and in so doing provides a fascinating tutorial on how decisions are made, and how they can be made more effectively.”
—Thomas D. Gilovich, Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology, Cornell University

“There could be no more important book—especially in a time of such great polarization and strife—than Steven Sloman’s The Cost of Conviction. When we are most tempted to ask ‘How could someone (else) believe something so stupid?’ it is a perfect tonic to ask ‘Why do I believe what I believe?’ . . . and follow that thread through to the very end. Don’t let the occasional equation or moment of philosophical hairsplitting mislead you. This isn’t a textbook; this is a book that aims at the human soul.”
—Lee McIntyre, author of Post-TruthSteven Sloman has taught at Brown University since 1992. He is a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society, the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the American Psychological Society, the Eastern Psychological Association, and the Psychonomic Society. He is the author of Causal Models and a coauthor of The Knowledge Illusion (with Phil Fernbach). He has been Editor-in-Chief of the journal Cognition, Chair of the Brown University faculty, and the creator of Brown University’s concentration in Behavioral Decision Sciences.