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. 2016;20(4):399-411.
doi: 10.1037/gpr0000085. Epub 2016 Dec 1.

Why Do People Believe What They Do? A Functionalist Perspective

Matthew Tyler Boden  1 , Howard Berenbaum  2 , James J Gross  3
Affiliations

Why Do People Believe What They Do? A Functionalist Perspective

Matthew Tyler Boden et al. Rev Gen Psychol. 2016.

Abstract

Why do people believe what they do? Scholars and laypeople alike tend to answer this question by focusing on the representational functions of beliefs (i.e., representing the world accurately). However, a growing body of theory and research indicates that beliefs also can serve important hedonic functions (i.e., decreasing/increasing negative or positive emotional states). In this manuscript, we describe: (1) the features of belief, (2) the functions served by beliefs, with a focus on the hedonic function, (3) an integrative framework highlighting the hedonic function and contrasting it with the representational function, (4) the implications of our framework, and related future research directions for individual differences in belief, belief change, and the ways in which beliefs contribute to adaptive versus maladaptive psychological functioning.

Keywords: Belief; belief change; emotion regulation; function; functionalist.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A depiction of a functionalist approach to belief which shows that any belief can fulfill (a) only representational (coordinate space A, near the Y axis) or hedonic functions (coordinate space A, near the X axis), (b) both representational or hedonic functions in complementary (coordinate space A, equidistant from the X and Y axes) or competing ways (coordinate spaces B & D, equidistant from the X and Y axes), or (c) neither representation or hedonic functions (coordinate spaces C and E). Examples labeled with numbers are discussed in the text.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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