Motivated numeracy and enlightened self-government
Open accessAbstract
Why does public conflict over societal risks persist in the face of compelling and widely accessible scientific evidence? We conducted an experiment to probe two alternative answers: the ‘science comprehension thesis’ (SCT), which identifies defects in the public's knowledge and reasoning capacities as the source of such controversies; and the ‘identity-protective cognition thesis’ (ICT), which treats cultural conflict as disabling the faculties that members of the public use to make sense of decision-relevant science. In our experiment, we presented subjects with a difficult problem that turned on their ability to draw valid causal inferences from empirical data. As expected, subjects highest in numeracy – a measure of the ability and disposition to make use of quantitative information – did substantially better than less numerate ones when the data were presented as results from a study of a new skin rash treatment. Also as expected, subjects’ responses became politically polarized – and even less accurate – when the same data were presented as results from the study of a gun control ban. But contrary to the prediction of SCT, such polarization did not abate among subjects highest in numeracy; instead, it increased. This outcome supported ICT, which predicted that more numerate subjects would use their quantitative-reasoning capacity selectively to conform their interpretation of the data to the result most consistent with their political outlooks. We discuss the theoretical and practical significance of these findings.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Muller, K. E., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1270020 · Cited by 99,588 · see citing works
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences
Cohen, J. (1990) · Computers Environment and Urban Systems · doi:10.1016/0198-9715(90)90050-4 · Cited by 65,406 · see citing works
Advances In Experimental Social Psychology
(2022) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(22)x0002-6 · Cited by 22,559 · see citing works
Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Cohen, P., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2014) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410606266 · Cited by 20,819 · see citing works
Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys
Rubin, D. B. (1987) · Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics · doi:10.1002/9780470316696 · Cited by 20,701 · see citing works
Olson, M. (1965) · doi:10.4159/9780674041660 · Cited by 14,191 · see citing works
Sufrin, S. C., & Olson, M. (1966) · Industrial and Labor Relations Review · doi:10.2307/2521228 · Cited by 11,579 · see citing works
The Logic of Collective Action.
Golembiewski, R. T., & Olson, M. (1966) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2091298 · Cited by 11,371 · see citing works
Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Kemp, F. (2003) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series D (The Statistician) · doi:10.1046/j.1467-9884.2003.t01-2-00383_4.x · Cited by 9,294 · see citing works
The case for motivated reasoning.
Kunda, Z. (1990) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480 · Cited by 9,022 · see citing works
Loewenstein, G. F., Weber, E. U., Hsee, C. K., & Welch, N. (2001) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.127.2.267 · Cited by 6,181 · see citing works
(1999) · Cited by 6,104 · see citing works
Loewenstein, G. F., Weber, E. U., Hsee, C. K., & Welch, N. (2001) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.127.2.267 · Cited by 5,955 · see citing works
Akerlof, G., & Kranton, R. (2000) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355300554881 · Cited by 5,824 · see citing works
Interaction terms in logit and probit models
Ai, C., & Norton, E. C. (2003) · Economics Letters · doi:10.1016/s0165-1765(03)00032-6 · Cited by 5,466 · see citing works
Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics
Kahneman, D. (2003) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/000282803322655392 · Cited by 5,377 · see citing works
Making the most of statistical analyses: improving interpretation and presentation
King, G., Tomz, M., & Wittenberg, J. (2000) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.2307/2669316 · Cited by 3,232 · see citing works
Individual differences in reasoning: Implications for the rationality debate?
Stanovich, K., & West, R. (2000) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00003435 · Cited by 2,987 · see citing works
The Polarizing Impact of Science Literacy and Numeracy on Perceived Climate Change Risks
Braman, D., Kahan, D. M., Peters, E. M., Wittlin, M., Slovic, P., Ouellette, L. L., & Mandel, G. N. (2012) · Scholarly Commons - George Washington University Law School (George Washington University) · Cited by 2,299 · see citing works
Self-citationHandbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology
West, T., Reis, H. T., Judd, C. M., Banaji, M. R., Crandall, C., Giner-Sorolla, R., Biernat, M., Fiedler, K., Ermark, F., Tepper, S. J., et al. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009170123 · Cited by 2,133 · see citing works
Analyzing Incomplete Political Science Data: An Alternative Algorithm for Multiple Imputation
King, G., Honaker, J., Joseph, A., & Scheve, K. (2001) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055401000235 · Cited by 1,834 · see citing works
Cultural cognition of scientific consensus.
Kahan, D. M., Jenkins‐Smith, H., & Braman, D. (2011) · Journal of Risk Research · doi:10.1080/13669877.2010.511246 · Cited by 1,686 · see citing works
Self-citation(1994) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-3722 · Cited by 1,681 · see citing works
The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory
Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L. (2006) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(06)38004-5 · Cited by 1,614 · see citing works
Baron, J. A. (2006) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009263672 · Cited by 1,434 · see citing works
Party Over Policy: The Dominating Impact of Group Influence on Political Beliefs.
Cohen, G. L. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.808 · Cited by 1,400 · see citing works
Ideology, motivated reasoning, and cognitive reflection
Kahan, D. M. (2013) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500005271 · Cited by 1,302 · see citing works
Self-citationLodge, M., & Taber, C. S. (2013) · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139032490 · Cited by 1,281 · see citing works
A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics
Jolls, C., Sunstein, C., & Thaler, R. H. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139175197.002 · Cited by 1,280 · see citing works
Weber, E. U. (2006) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-006-9060-3 · Cited by 1,255 · see citing works
A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics
Jolls, C., Sunstein, C. R., & Thaler, R. H. (1998) · Stanford Law Review · doi:10.2307/1229304 · Cited by 1,253 · see citing works
Peters, E., Västfjäll, D., Slovic, P., Mertz, C. K., Mazzocco, K., & Dickert, S. (2006) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01720.x · Cited by 1,180 · see citing works
Self-citationHandbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology: Author Index
Reis, H. T., & Judd, C. M. (2013) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511996481 · Cited by 1,080 · see citing works
The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks
Toplak, M. E., West, R. F., & Stanovich, K. E. (2011) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-011-0104-1 · Cited by 1,047 · see citing works
Pampel, F. C. (2021) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781071878729 · Cited by 848 · see citing works
Public understanding of climate change in the United States.
Weber, E. U., & Stern, P. C. (2011) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/a0023253 · Cited by 841 · see citing works
Testing hypotheses about interaction terms in nonlinear models
Greene, W. H. (2010) · Economics Letters · doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2010.02.014 · Cited by 820 · see citing works
Culture and Identity-Protective Cognition: Explaining the White Male Effect in Risk Perception
Braman, D., Kahan, D. M., Gastil, J., Slovic, P., Mertz, C. K., & Mertz, C. K. (2007) · Cited by 812 · see citing works
Self-citationClimate‐Science Communication and the Measurement Problem
Kahan, D. M. (2015) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12244 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
Self-citationEducation, politics and opinions about climate change evidence for interaction effects
Hamilton, L. C. (2011) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-010-9957-8 · Cited by 628 · see citing works
Fixing the communications failure
Kahan, D. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/463296a · Cited by 602 · see citing works
Self-citationPampel, F. C. (2000) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781412984805 · Cited by 571 · see citing works
Laws of fear: beyond the precautionary principle
(2006) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.43-3692 · Cited by 563 · see citing works
What intelligence tests miss: the psychology of rational thought
(2009) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.46-5908 · Cited by 542 · see citing works
Westen, D., Blagov, P. S., Harenski, K. A., Kilts, C., & Hamann, S. B. (2006) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2006.18.11.1947 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Marx, S. M., Weber, E. U., Orlove, B., Leiserowitz, A., Krantz, D. H., Roncoli, C., & Phillips, J. A. (2006) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.10.004 · Cited by 500 · see citing works
Cultural Cognition as a Conception of the Cultural Theory of Risk
Kahan, D. M. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1433-5_28 · Cited by 460 · see citing works
Self-citationSunstein, C. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511790850 · Cited by 435 · see citing works
Braman, D., Kahan, D. M., Cohen, G. L., Slovic, P., & Gastil, J. (2008) · Scholarly Commons - George Washington University Law School (George Washington University) · Cited by 425 · see citing works
Self-citationMaking the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation
King, G., Tomz, M. R., & Wittenberg, J. (2002) · ICPSR Data Holdings · doi:10.3886/icpsr01255 · Cited by 414 · see citing works
The Regulation of Social Meaning
Lessig, L. (1995) · The University of Chicago Law Review · doi:10.2307/1600054 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Development and Testing of an Abbreviated Numeracy Scale: A Rasch Analysis Approach
Weller, J. A., Dieckmann, N. F., Tusler, M., Mertz, C. K., Burns, W. J., & Peters, E. M. (2012) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.1751 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
Self-citationLavine, H. G., Johnston, C. D., & Steenbergen, M. R. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199772759.001.0001 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation
Jennings, W., Mercurio-Jennings, P., & Breyer, S. (1996) · Journal of Risk & Insurance · doi:10.2307/253632 · Cited by 363 · see citing works
Motivated Heuristic and Systematic Processing
Chen, S., Duckworth, K., & Chaiken, S. (1999) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1001_6 · Cited by 356 · see citing works
The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks
Kahan, D. M., Peters, E., Wittlin, M., Slovic, P., Ouellette, L. L., Braman, D., & Mandel, G. (2012) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/nclimate1547 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
Self-citationLiberali, J. M., Reyna, V. F., Furlan, S., Stein, L. M., & Pardo, S. T. (2011) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.752 · Cited by 341 · see citing works
Expressive behavior in economics and politics
Hillman, A. L. (2010) · European Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2010.06.004 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Science as Subject-Matter and as Method
DEWEY, J. M. (1910) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.31.787.121 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Breaking the vicious circle: toward effective risk regulation
(1993) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-1783 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
The Oxford handbook of social cognition
(2014) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.51-3537 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys
(1990) · Computers Environment and Urban Systems · doi:10.1016/0198-9715(90)90061-w · Cited by 254 · see citing works
Myside bias in thinking about abortion
Baron, J. (1995) · Thinking & Reasoning · doi:10.1080/13546789508256909 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Motivated Reasoning and Performance on the was on Selection Task
Dawson, E. C., Gilovich, T. D., & Regan, D. T. (2002) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/014616702236869 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Self-citationScience as subject-matter and as method
Dewey, J. (1995) · Science & Education · doi:10.1007/bf00487760 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Between understanding and trust: The public, science and technology
Miller, S. (2001) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Why we are poles apart on climate change
Kahan, D. M. (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/488255a · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Self-citationClimate-Science Communication and the Measurement ProblemPreprint
Kahan, D. M. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Self-citationMcCright, A. M., & Dunlap, R. E. (2012) · Journal of Risk Research · doi:10.1080/13669877.2012.726242 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Selective Use of Heunrstic and Systematic Processing Under Defense Motivation
Giner-Sorolila, R., & Chaiken, S. (1997) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167297231009 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
McCaffrey, M. S., & Sullivan, S. M. B. (2008) · Physical Geography · doi:10.2747/0272-3646.29.6.512 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Contributions of specific cell information to judgments of interevent contingency.
Wasserman, E. A., Dorner, W. W., & Kao, S. (1990) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037//0278-7393.16.3.509 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Culture and Identity‐Protective Cognition: Explaining the White‐Male Effect in Risk Perception
Kahan, D. M., Braman, D., Gastil, J., Slovic, P., & Mertz, C. K. (2007) · Journal of Empirical Legal Studies · doi:10.1111/j.1740-1461.2007.00097.x · Cited by 136 · cited 1× · see citing works
“So does the controversy over gun risks (Kahan et al., 2007; Gastil et al., 2011).”
BackgroundSelf-citationOn the Divergent American Reactions to Terrorism and Climate ChangePreprint
Sunstein, C. R. (2006) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.901217 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Jensen, K. K. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1433-5 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Unicorns Do Exist: A Tutorial on “Proving” the Null Hypothesis
Streiner, D. L. (2003) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674370304801108 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Culturally antagonistic memes and the Zika virus: an experimental test
Kahan, D. M., Jamieson, K. H., Landrum, A. R., & Winneg, K. M. (2016) · Journal of Risk Research · doi:10.1080/13669877.2016.1260631 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Self-citationBetween Understanding and Trust: The Public, Science and Technology
von Grote, C., & Dierkes, M. (1999) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Public knowledge and concern about polar-region warming
Hamilton, L. C., Cutler, M., & Schaefer, A. (2012) · Polar Geography · doi:10.1080/1088937x.2012.684155 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Powers, E. A. (2004) · Journal of Corporate Finance · doi:10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2004.08.003 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Kahan, D. M., Braman, D., Cohen, G. L., Gastil, J., & Slovic, P. (2010) · Law and Human Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10979-009-9201-0 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Feasibility of Folk Science
Keil, F. C. (2010) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01108.x · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Cultural Cognition and Public Policy: The Case of Outpatient Commitment Laws
Han, D.-K. M., Braman, D., Monahan, J., Callahan, L., & Peters, E. (2010) · Law and Human Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10979-008-9174-4 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Self-citationFear of Democracy: A Cultural Evaluation of Sunstein on Risk
Kahan, D. M., Slovic, P., Braman, D., et al. (2006) · bepress Legal Repository · doi:10.4324/9781849776677-20 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Cultural Orientation of Mass Political Opinion
Gastil, J., Braman, D., Kahan, D., & Slovic, P. (2011) · PS: Political Science & Politics · doi:10.1017/s1049096511001326 · Cited by 87 · cited 1× · see citing works
“So does the controversy over gun risks (Kahan et al., 2007; Gastil et al., 2011).”
BackgroundSelf-citationStanovich, K. E. (2012) · Thinking & Reasoning · doi:10.1080/13546783.2012.713178 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“Hot” Political Cognition: Its Self-, Group-, and System-Serving Purposes
Jost, J. T., Hennes, E. P., & Lavine, H. G. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199730018.013.0041 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Who uses base rates andP(D/∼H)? An analysis of individual differences
Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (1998) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03211379 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
The science of reason : a festschrift for Jonathan St. B.T. Evans
Manktelow, K. I., Over, D. E., & Elqayam, S. (2010) · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Everything is Obvious.*Once You Know the Answer. How Common Sense Fails Us
Watts, D. J. (2011) · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Science denial: a guide for scientists
Rosenau, J. (2012) · Trends in Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.tim.2012.10.002 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Sunstein, C. R. (2006) · bepress Legal Repository · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Kahan, D. M. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1910391 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationSunstein, C. R. (2002) · bepress Legal Repository · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Smith, E. R. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511996481.006 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Karlan, P. S. (2012) · Harvard Law Review · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 97 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- 10.1037/0278-7393.16.3.509 · DOI
- Sunstein, 2003, What's Available? Social Influences and Behavioral Economics, Northwestern University Law Review, 97
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2019) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.06.011 · Cited by 2,022 · see citing works
“Specifically, whereas research on political topics such as climate change (Kahan et al., 2012) and gun control (Kahan et al., 2017) indicates that political polarization increases as a function of increased analytic ability, our findings indicate that more analytic people are less (not more) likely…”
Pennycook, G., McPhetres, J., Zhang, Y., Lu, J. G., & Rand, D. G. (2020) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797620939054 · Cited by 1,715 · see citing works
The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes’ Steadfast Factual Adherence
Wood, T., & Porter, E. (2019) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11109-018-9443-y · Cited by 904 · see citing works
“…studies which only report a fluency effect where false claims are more easily remembered, since no corrections are randomly assigned in such designs (Sanna et al. 2002; Skurnik et al. 2005; Berinsky 2017), or five: studies where a framing effect compounds factual inaccuracy (Kahan et al. 2017).”
BackgroundPennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2020) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12476 · Cited by 879 · see citing works
Tucker, J. A., Guess, A., Barbera, P., Vaccari, C., Siegel, A., Sanovich, S., Stukal, D., & Nyhan, B. (2018) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3144139 · Cited by 1,222 · see citing works
Fake news, fast and slow: Deliberation reduces belief in false (but not true) news headlines.
Bago, B., Rand, D. G., & Pennycook, G. (2020) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/xge0000729 · Cited by 593 · see citing works
Mindful Economics: The Production, Consumption, and Value of Beliefs
Bénabou, R., & Tirole, J. (2016) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.30.3.141 · Cited by 817 · see citing works
Misinformation: susceptibility, spread, and interventions to immunize the public
van der Linden, S. (2022) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-022-01713-6 · Cited by 570 · see citing works
Political diversity will improve social psychological science
Duarte, J. L., Crawford, J. T., Stern, C., Haidt, J., Jussim, L. J., & Tetlock, P. E. (2014) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x14000430 · Cited by 572 · see citing works
Climate‐Science Communication and the Measurement Problem
Kahan, D. M. (2015) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12244 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
“That people high in numeracy, cognitive reflection and like dispositions use these abilities to find and credit evidence supportive of the position that predominates in their cultural group and to explain away the rest has been demonstrated experimentally (Kahan, 2013b; Kahan et al., 2013).”
BackgroundSelf-citationReliance on emotion promotes belief in fake news
Martel, C., Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2020) · Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications · doi:10.1186/s41235-020-00252-3 · Cited by 470 · see citing works
“One popular perspective on belief in misinformation, which we will call the motivated cognition account, argues that analytic thinking—rather than emotional responses—are primarily to blame (Kahan 2017).”
BackgroundResultMisconceptions, Misinformation, and the Logic of Identity-Protective Cognition
Kahan, D. M. (2017) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2973067 · Cited by 423 · see citing works
Self-citationWard, J. K., Alleaume, C., Peretti‐Watel, P., Peretti‐Watel, P., Seror, V., Cortaredona, S., Launay, O., Raude, J., Verger, P., Beck, F., et al. (2020) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113414 · Cited by 418 · see citing works
“How do individuals come to include a vaccine in the list of objects and decisions upon which they apply their political understanding of the world? In his work on motivated reasoning, Dan Kahan suggests two pathways via which worldviews and ideology come to play in people’s perceptions: a) the person spontaneously per…”
Pennycook, G., McPhetres, J., Zhang, Y., Lu, J. G., & Rand, D. G. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/uhbk9 · Cited by 390 · see citing works
Motivated Rejection of Science
Lewandowsky, S., & Oberauer, K. (2016) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721416654436 · Cited by 393 · see citing works
Ditto, P. H., Liu, B. S., Clark, C. J., Wojcik, S. P., Chen, E. E., Grady, R. H., Celniker, J. B., & Zinger, J. F. (2019) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691617746796 · Cited by 535 · see citing works
What shapes perceptions of climate change? New research since 2010
Weber, E. U. (2016) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change · doi:10.1002/wcc.377 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
“Ideological polarization on climate change perceptions and beliefs has continued to increase over time,(47) with additional evidence that this may be the result of motivated reasoning.(48,49) Feygina et al.”
BackgroundWhere We Go From Here: Health Misinformation on Social Media
Chou, W. S., Gaysynsky, A., & Cappella, J. N. (2020) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2020.305905 · Cited by 311 · see citing works
Why the backfire effect does not explain the durability of political misperceptions
Nyhan, B. J. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1912440117 · Cited by 281 · see citing works
“By contrast, highly salient issues and engaging stimuli may more commonly provoke respondents to engage in effortful forms of processing, especially if heuristic cues suggest politically uncongenial conclusions that motivated respondents wish to avoid (5).”
BackgroundJerit, J., & Zhao, Y. (2020) · Annual Review of Political Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-050718-032814 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Do (microtargeted) deepfakes have real effects on political attitudes?
Dobber, T., Metoui, N., Trilling, D., Helberger, N., & de Vreese, C. (2021) · The International Journal of Press/Politics · doi:10.1177/1940161220944364 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
“For part of the “mistargeted group” (the CDA voters who were not heavy prayers), it appears that motivated reasoning inoculated them from any negative effects of the deepfake (see Kahan et al. 2017 for more information on measuring motivated reasoning).”
Science Curiosity and Political Information Processing
Kahan, D. M., Landrum, A. R., Carpenter, K. L., Helft, L., & Jamieson, K. H. (2017) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12396 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Self-citationFacts and Myths about Misperceptions
Nyhan, B. J. (2020) · The Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.34.3.220 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
“In the Kahan et al. (2017) study described above, for instance, polarization in interpretation of the data depending on whether it was labeled as concerning skin cream or gun control was greatest among the most numerate respondents, who still tended to accept the intuitive answer when it was congenial but were able to…”
BackgroundInfluentialStriving for balance in economics: Towards a theory of the social determination of behavior
Hoff, K., & Stiglitz, J. E. (2016) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2016.01.005 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
“In an experiment by Kahan et al. (2013), individuals were presented with identical data in two different contexts and hen were asked which hypothesis the data supported.”
MethodThe Dynamics and Political Implications of Anti-Intellectualism in the United States
Motta, M. (2017) · American Politics Research · doi:10.1177/1532673x17719507 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Pennycook, G., McPhetres, J., Bagó, B., & Rand, D. (2021) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672211023652 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
“However, there is another prominent theory that we have yet to address: identity-protective cognition (Drummond & Fischhoff, 2017; Kahan et al., 2011, 2012, 2017; Landrum et al., 2017).”
BackgroundInfluentialWashburn, A. N., & Skitka, L. J. (2017) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550617731500 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
“Using the complex strategy to correctly interpret the results, therefore, required greater cognitive effort than using any simple strategy (Kahan et al., 2013; Stanovich & West, 1998).”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialPolarization in the contemporary political and media landscape
Wilson, A. E., Parker, V. A., & Feinberg, M. (2020) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.07.005 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Geoengineering and Climate Change Polarization
Kahan, D. M., Jenkins‐Smith, H. C., Tarantola, T., Silva, C., & Braman, D. (2015) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716214559002 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Self-citationParkhurst, J. (2016) · London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) · doi:10.4324/9781315675008 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
The role of evidence in politics: Motivated reasoning and persuasion among politicians.
Baekgaard, M., Christensen, J., Dahlmann, C. M., Mathiasen, A., & Petersen, N. B. G. (2019) · British Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s0007123417000084 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
“44 See, e.g., Baekgaard and Serritzlew 2016; Kahan et al. 2013; Lodge and Taber 2013; Taber, Cann, and Kucsova 2009; Taber and Lodge 2006.”
Political Psychology in the Digital (mis)Information age: A Model of News Belief and Sharing
Van Bavel, J. J., Harris, E. A., Pärnamets, P., Rathje, S., Doell, K. C., & Tucker, J. A. (2021) · Social Issues and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/sipr.12077 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Invited Commentary: The Need for Cognitive Science in Methodology
Greenland, S. (2017) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwx259 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
“The unlimited sensitivity of effect estimates from bias models implies that any desired inference can be manufactured by back-calculating to the plausible-looking models and priors that produce it, thus providing an avenue for motivated statistical reasoning (54).”
BackgroundSloman, S. A., & Lagnado, D. (2015) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015135 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
The nature and origins of political polarization over science
Rekker, R. (2021) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/0963662521989193 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
“Increases in PSR could be explained by increasing education because those citizens who have the greatest capacity to understand scientific information are often most likely to engage in politically motivated reasoning (Kahan et al., 2017).”
BackgroundInterpreting performance information: Motivated reasoning or unbiased comprehension.
Baekgaard, M., & Serritzlew, S. (2016) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.12406 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
“For example, Kahan et al. (2013, 18) show that liberal Democrats are more likely than conservative Republicans to correctly interpret statistical information indicating that gun control decreases violence.”
BackgroundA Signal Detection Approach to Understanding the Identification of Fake News
Batailler, C., Brannon, S. M., Teas, P. E., & Gawronski, B. (2021) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620986135 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Ståhl, T., & van Prooijen, J.-W. (2018) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.026 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
“…strongly value epistemic rationality, by contrast, analytic thinking skills should have little effect on the rationality of their beliefs, because these skills are likely to either remain disengaged, or employed in pursuit of preferred conclusions rather than the truth (e.g., Kahan et al., 2017).”
BackgroundClark, C. J., Liu, B. S., Winegard, B. M., & Ditto, P. H. (2019) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721419862289 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
“fervidly supporting their agenda and promoting their goals, even if that means having or promoting erroneous beliefs, is often a reasonable strategy (Kahan et al., 2017).”
BackgroundPolitical Attitudes and the Processing of Misinformation Corrections
Ecker, U. K. H., & Ang, L. C. (2018) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12494 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Working While Liberal/Conservative: A Review of Political Ideology in Organizations
Swigart, K. L., Anantharaman, A., Williamson, J. A., & Grandey, A. A. (2020) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206320909419 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
“Put differently, political ideology affects decision-making because individuals arrive at the conclusions they want to be true rather than those that are objectively more accurate, so long as they can (consciously or not) justify their decisions (Kahan et al., 2013; Kunda, 1990).”
BackgroundTrevors, G., Muis, K. R., Pekrun, R. H., Sinatra, G. M., & Winne, P. H. (2016) · Discourse Processes · doi:10.1080/0163853x.2015.1136507 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Pennycook, G., Cheyne, J. A., Koehler, D. J., & Fugelsang, J. A. (2020) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500007439 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Jungherr, A., Rivero, G., & Gayo-Avello, D. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108297820 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
The wisdom of polarized crowds
Shi, F., Teplitskiy, M., Duede, E., & Evans, J. A. (2019) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Educative Interventions to Combat Misinformation: Evidence from a Field Experiment in India
Badrinathan, S. (2021) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055421000459 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Levy, N. L. (2021) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192895325.001.0001 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
The Economics of Motivated Beliefs
Bénabou, R. (2015) · Revue d économie politique · doi:10.3917/redp.255.0665 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
“I will not cover here this fast-growing segment of the literature, but simply list a few recent experimental demonstrations of self-deception over one’s morality or altruism, such as Konow (2005), Dana et al. (2007), Di Tella et al.”
BackgroundThe Bias That Divides Us: The Science and Politics of Myside Thinking
Stanovich, K. E. (2021) · doi:10.7551/mitpress/13367.001.0001 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
They Might Be a Liar But They’re My Liar: Source Evaluation and the Prevalence of Misinformation
Swire‐Thompson, B., Ecker, U. K. H., Lewandowsky, S., & Berinsky, A. J. (2019) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12586 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Influencing climate change attitudes in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Rode, J. B., Dent, A. L., Benedict, C. N., Brosnahan, D., Martinez, R. L., & Ditto, P. H. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101623 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Williams, D. (2020) · Mind & Language · doi:10.1111/mila.12294 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Polarization in America: two possible futures
Heltzel, G., & Laurin, K. (2020) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.03.008 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
“Instead, they seek information that confirms their partisan preferences [91] and disregardfactsthatcounterthem[33,34].”
Burbano, V. (2020) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2019.3562 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
“1983) and to news and data that confirms (Knobloch-Westerwick and Meng 2009, Messing and Westwood 2014; Kahan et al., 2017) one’s own judgments about social-political issues.”
Bayesian or biased? Analytic thinking and political belief updating
Tappin, B. M., Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2020) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104375 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
The wisdom of polarized crowds
Shi, F., Teplitskiy, M., Duede, E., & Evans, J. A. (2019) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0541-6 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
“ions, including those that undergird basic democratic institutions [13, 14, 15]. Psychological mechanisms such as motivated reasoning [16, 17] and a tendency to discount identity-incongruent opinions [14, 18] stimulate and reinforce polarizing information. Opposing social identities can foment con ict and even make co…”
BackgroundClark, C. J., & Winegard, B. M. (2020) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2020.1721233 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
“…critical of scientific evidence (e.g., Campbell & Kay, 2014; Munro & Munro, 2014), and, at a computational level, make more mistakes with numeric (Kahan et al., 2017) and logical reasoning (Gampa, Wojcik, Motyl, Nosek, & Ditto, in press) when the conclusions, outcomes, or consequences are…”
BackgroundBeyond “fake news”: Analytic thinking and the detection of false and hyperpartisan news headlines
Ross, R. M., Rand, D. G., & Pennycook, G. (2021) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500008640 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
“…to the more specific “motivated system 2 reasoning” account that focuses on the impact of deliberation on political polarization (Kahan, 2013, 2017; Kahan, Peters, Dawson & Slovic, 2017). texts: Whereas MS2R argues that explicit reasoning typically facilitates politically biased information…”
InfluentialPennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2021) · Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review · doi:10.37016/mr-2020-51 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
“These results speak to the ongoing debate about whether cognitive sophistication is associated with increased political polarization (Kahan, 2013; Kahan et al., 2017) or increased accuracy (Pennycook & Rand, 2019b), highlighting to need to differentiate between political knowledge and analytic…”
Medical disinformation and the unviable nature of COVID-19 conspiracy theories
Grimes, D. R. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245900 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
“Research by Kahan and colleagues has demonstrated that political and ideological positions can lead individuals to distort objective information to buttress their worldview, on everything from gun control [53] to the HPV vaccine [54].”
BackgroundThe expressive rationality of inaccurate perceptions
Kahan, D. M. (2017) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x15002332 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Self-citationVries, C. E. D., Bakker, B. N., HOBOLT, S. B., & Arceneaux, K. (2021) · Political Science Research and Methods · doi:10.1017/psrm.2021.6 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
What Is Central to Political Belief System Networks?
Brandt, M. J., Sibley, C. G., & Osborne, D. (2019) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167218824354 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
“, 1960; Green, Palmquist, & Schickler, 2002; Jost, 2006; Kinder & Kalmoe, 2017) and other political cognitions, emotions, and behaviors (Brandt, 2017; Huddy et al., 2015; Kahan et al., 2017; Mason, 2015, 2018).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Determinants and Consequences of Accurate Beliefs About Childhood Vaccinations
Joslyn, M. R., & Sylvester, S. M. (2017) · American Politics Research · doi:10.1177/1532673x17745342 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
“In our polarized political climate, one’s position on sciencerelated issues may often be understood as a sign for membership in and loyalty to political parties (Kahan et al., 2017).”
BackgroundDorst, K. M. (2021) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.1215/00318108-10469499 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
A Note on the Perverse Effects of Actively Open-Minded Thinking on Climate-change Polarization
Kahan, D. M., & Corbin, J. C. (2016) · Research & Politics · doi:10.1177/2053168016676705 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Self-citationKnowledge overconfidence is associated with anti-consensus views on controversial scientific issues
Light, N., Fernbach, P. M., Rabb, N., Geana, M., & Sloman, S. A. (2022) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abo0038 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
“Some have suggested that better reasoning ability makes it easier for individuals to deduce their way to the conclusions they already value [( 19 ) but see ( 22 )].”
Myers, T. A., Maibach, E., Peters, E., & Leiserowitz, A. (2015) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120985 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Politically Motivated Reasoning Paradigm, Part 2: Unanswered Questions
Kahan, D. M. (2016) · Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1002/9781118900772.etrds0418 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Self-citationCognitive Reflection and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2018) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167218783192 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
“This observation resonates somewhat with the claim that highly analytic individuals are more politically polarized because they are better able to reason in a motivated way (Kahan, 2013; Kahan et al., 2017).”
BackgroundSortition as Anti‐Corruption: Popular Oversight against Elite Capture
Bagg, S. E. (2022) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1111/ajps.12704 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Pennycook, G., McPhetres, J., Bagó, B., & Rand, D. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/zhjkp · Cited by 47 · see citing works
“Given that identity-protective cognition is a favored explanation for polarization around climate change (Kahan, 2012; Kahan et al., 2017), do our results indicate that ideology plays a causal role in the formation of false beliefs about COVID-19?”
BackgroundInfluentialLiu, X., Li, Q. L., Wang, L., & Metzger, M. J. (2023) · Communication Research · doi:10.1177/00936502231206419 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
“…as individuals who use more systematic thinking possess better reasoning capacities and are more capable of marshaling their cognitive resources to process information in a biased way (e.g., Kahan, 2017; Kahan, Peters et al., 2017; and see Tappin et al., 2021 for a full discussion of this point).”
Exploring the relations between epistemic beliefs, emotions, and learning from texts
Trevors, G., Muis, K. R., Pekrun, R. H., Sinatra, G. M., & Muijselaar, M. M. L. (2016) · Contemporary Educational Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.10.001 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Dialogic Interviewing and Flickers of Transformation
Way, A. K., Zwier, R. K., & Tracy, S. J. (2015) · Qualitative Inquiry · doi:10.1177/1077800414566686 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Bartels, B. L., & Johnston, C. D. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316979754 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Fake news, fast and slow: Deliberation reduces belief in false (but not true) news headlines
Bago, B., Rand, D. G., & Pennycook, G. (2019) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/29b4j · Cited by 593 · see citing works
Motivated Attention in Climate Change Perception and Action
Luo, Y., & Zhao, J. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01541 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
I’ll see it when i believe it: motivated numeracy in perceptions of climate change risk
Nurse, M. S., & Grant, W. J. (2020) · Environmental Communication · doi:10.1080/17524032.2019.1618364 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“We used the following criteria to select a suitable ACC research question to attempt to replicate Kahan et al. (2017) as closely as possible: 1.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialMotivated Responding in Studies of Factual Learning
Khanna, K., & Sood, G. (2017) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/s11109-017-9395-7 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Motivated Reasoning in the Perceived Credibility of Public Opinion Polls
Kuru, O., Josh Pasek, B., & Traugott, M. W. (2017) · Public Opinion Quarterly · doi:10.1093/poq/nfx018 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Sultan, M., Tump, A. N., Ehmann, N., Lorenz-Spreen, P., Hertwig, R., Gollwitzer, A., & Kurvers, R. H. J. M. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2409329121 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Actively Open-Minded Thinking and Its Measurement
Stanovich, K. E., & Toplak, M. E. (2023) · Journal of Intelligence · doi:10.3390/jintelligence11020027 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
In defense of the ivory tower: Why philosophers should stay out of politics
van der Vossen, B. (2014) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2014.972353 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Alfano, M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781139696555 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Damstra, A., Vliegenthart, R., Boomgaarden, H. G., Glüer, K., Lindgren, E., Strömbäck, J., & Tsfati, Y. (2021) · The International Journal of Press/Politics · doi:10.1177/19401612211031457 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
“Once a policy issue grows into a controversy, this tendency to conform the understanding of evidence to one’s prevailing position gets stronger, as the connection to affinity groups who share the same understanding also grows (Kahan et al. 2017).”
BackgroundStanovich, K. E., & Toplak, M. E. (2019) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.03.006 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Ideological Asymmetries and the Determinants of Politically Motivated Reasoning
Guay, B., & Johnston, C. D. (2021) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1111/ajps.12624 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
The enduring effect of scientific interest on trust in climate scientists in the United States
Motta, M. (2018) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0126-9 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Cognitive dissonance, ego-involvement, and motivated reasoning
Carpenter, C. J. (2019) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1080/23808985.2018.1564881 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
What are the chances you’re right about everything? An epistemic challenge for modern partisanship
Joshi, H. (2020) · Politics Philosophy & Economics · doi:10.1177/1470594x20901346 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
“Lord et al. (1979) detail the role of confirmation bias in explaining political belief formation.”
BackgroundBanuri, S., Dercon, S., & Gauri, V. (2018) · The World Bank Economic Review · doi:10.1093/wber/lhy033 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
How Can Psychological Science Help Counter the Spread of Fake News?
van der Linden, S., Roozenbeek, J., Maertens, R., Basol, M., Kácha, O., Rathje, S., & Traberg, C. S. (2021) · The Spanish Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1017/sjp.2021.23 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“…on findings that those who have the highest levels of education (Drummond & Fischhoff, 2017), cognitive reflection (Kahan, 2013), numerical ability (Kahan et al., 2017), or political knowledge (Taber et al., 2009) tend to show more partisan bias on controversial…”
Background(Ideo)Logical Reasoning: Ideology Impairs Sound Reasoning
Gampa, A., Wojcik, S. P., Motyl, M. S., Nosek, B. A., & Ditto, P. H. (2019) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550619829059 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
“However, there is also evidence that enhanced cognitive abilities may exacerbate, rather than mitigate, our biases in a politically motivated setting (e.g., Kahan et al., 2017).”
BackgroundWin–win denial: The psychological underpinnings of zero-sum thinking.
Johnson, S. G. B., Zhang, J., & Keil, F. C. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0001083 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
A framework for understanding reasoning errors: From fake news to climate change and beyond
Pennycook, G. (2022) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2022.11.003 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Hanel, P. H. P., & Mehler, D. M. (2019) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/0963662519834193 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Ståhl, T., Zaal, M. P., & Skitka, L. J. (2016) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0166332 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Terror, Hate and the Demands of Counter-Speech
Howard, J. W. (2019) · British Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s000712341900053x · Cited by 77 · see citing works
“…and unsophisticated citizens; recent work even suggests that the more informed people are, the more likely they are to become entrenched in their existing views – deploying their advanced numeracy, for example, to construct more elaborate defenses of what they already think (Kahan et al. 2017).”
BackgroundDeep Disagreements and Political Polarization
de Ridder, J. (2021) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780192893338.003.0013 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
- Authors
- KAHAN, D. M., PETERS, E., DAWSON, E. C., & SLOVIC, P.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- University of Oregon (US)
- Corresponding author
- KAHAN, DAN M.
- Venue
- Behavioural Public Policy
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2017-05
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 54-86
- ISSN
- 2398-063X (ISSN-L)
- 2398-0648
- OpenAlex
- W3124377921
- Semantic Scholar
- c31861537baeba1d6ea94fd67691b8e3d05a7c0f
- Cited by
- 883
- References
- 97
- Citations by year
- 2026: 40 · 2025: 76 · 2024: 95 · 2023: 98 · 2022: 102 · 2021: 95 · 2020: 103 · 2019: 106 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 61.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Behavioural Public Policy (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Scholars' Bank (University of Oregon) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Risk Perception and Management
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Keywords
- political polarization, societal risk, public understanding of science, causal inference, quantitative reasoning, gun control, partisanship
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review