Question

When two friends, who support two different political parties, only quote statistics that support their favorite political party’s strengths but not its weaknesses, which type of perception do they demonstrate?

Answer 1

This question is missing the options. I've found the complete question online. It is as follows:

When two friends, who support two different political parties, only quote statistics that support their favorite political party’s strengths but not its weaknesses, which type of perception do they demonstrate?

a.  Selective retention

b.  Selective exposure

c.  Selective distortion

d.  Selective perception

Answer:

The type of perception which they demonstrate is:

a.  Selective retention .

Explanation:

Selective retention can be explained as a tendency people have to only retain information partially. The part retained usually supports a belief or attitude those people already possess. That means they only focus and memorize what is convenient to their own beliefs. On the other hand, information that contradicts such beliefs and attitudes ends up being forgotten or discarded. Notice that that's the case with the two friends. They only quote statistics that support their party's strength. They have focused on the pieces of information that confirm their beliefs.