Searching for the Whole Truth: Harnessing the Power of Intellectual Humility to Boost Better Search on Debated Topics

We often use search engines when seeking information for opinion-forming and decision-making on debated topics. However, searching for resources on debated topics to gain well-rounded knowledge is cognitively demanding, leaving us vulnerable to cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias. This can impede well-informed decision-making, and on a societal level, snowball to compel extremism and polarization. Most existing approaches to support better search apply nudges that directly modify user behavior. Such interventions bear the risk of harming user autonomy. Here, we discuss the shift we envision towards autonomy-preserving interventions that boost users’ metacognitive skills, specifically their intellectual humility (IH)–the ability to recognize the fallibility of one’s beliefs and the limits of one’s knowledge. While simple interventions to boost IH have shown promise, the effect on users’ search behavior has yet to be investigated. We present critical research questions, challenges, and an initial research plan to advance knowledge in this area.