We tend to believe things that fit in with our prior beliefs and reject those that don’t –

Confirmation Bias

The third area of filtering is with logic and arguments. This is where you place deletion, distortion, and generalization into the argument for your position.

    Situation You Partner
Ad Hominem Assume the Character of the person sets the
quality of the argument
Ad Populum Just because it is popular it doesn’t mean that it is right
Anecdotal Evidence Unrepresentative exceptions. “If it’s fine with Fred it’s okay for all”
Appeal to Authority My Professor, whom I admire, likes it so it must be right (experts do disagree?)
Biased Evidence Select only those who agree with you
Euphemisms & Jargon Use of phrasing to hide or exaggerate – using emotive language or technical words
Repetition Repeat until they believe
Strawman / False Dichotomy A position is misrepresented in order to create diversionary debating point that is easily destroyed

(Source: Kathleen MacMillan)

See Also

Cognitive Distortions

Logical Fallacies