The Cost of Conviction: How Our Deepest Values Lead Us Astray

A timely and important perspective on how people frame decisions and how relying on sacred values unwittingly leads to social polarization. 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, the former, or prioritizing one’s sacred values, the latter. 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.

The book begins by covering the philosophical and conceptual background of the two decision-making strategies, then takes a deep dive into the psychology of decision making. Drawing on historical and current examples of the use of the two strategies, 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.

• | Author: Steven A. Sloman
• | Publisher: MIT Press Ltd
• | Publication Date: May 20, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
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• | Binding: Hardback
• | ISBN-13: 9780262049825
• | ISBN-10: 0262049821