Cited by 733Climate Change Communication and PerceptionClimate Change Policy and EconomicsRisk Perception and Management

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 98 of the 98 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The evidence for motivated reasoning in climate change preference formation

Druckman, James N., McGrath, Mary C.·2019·Nature Climate Change

DOI 10.1038/s41558-018-0360-1

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41558-018-0360-1

Cites

98 of 98 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

The case for motivated reasoning.
Kunda, Z. (1990) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480 · Cited by 9,022
The American Voter. By A. Campbell, P. Converse, W. Miller, and D. Stokes. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1960. Pp. viii, 573. $8.50.)
Eulau, H. H. F. (1960) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.2307/1952653 · Cited by 4,744
Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: The effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence
Lord, C. G., Ross, L., & Lepper, M. R. (1979) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.11.2098 · Cited by 4,583
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 2,421
The Politicization of Climate Change and Polarization in the American Public's Views of Global Warming, 2001–2010
McCright, A. M., & Dunlap, R. E. (2011) · The Sociological Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2011.01198.x · Cited by 2,340
The Persuasiveness of Source Credibility: A Critical Review of Five Decades' Evidence
Pornpitakpan, C. (2004) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02547.x · Cited by 2,205
The democratic dilemma: can citizens learn what they need to know?
(1998) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.36-1262 · Cited by 1,821
Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes of belief in climate change
Hornsey, M. J., Harris, E. A., Bain, P. G., & Fielding, K. S. (2016) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/nclimate2943 · Cited by 1,616
How Elite Partisan Polarization Affects Public Opinion Formation
DRUCKMAN, J. N., PETERSON, E., & SLOTHUUS, R. (2013) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055412000500 · Cited by 1,569
Self-citation
The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention
Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. (2014) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115137 · Cited by 1,302

Show all 98 references

Research works printed but not linked: 5

Kahan, D. In Culture, Politics and Climate Change (eds Boykoff, M. & Crow, D.) 203–220 (Routledge, London, 2014).
Gubitz, S., Klar, S., Robison, J. & Druckman, J. N. In New Directions in Media and Politics 2nd edn (ed. Ridout, T. N.) Ch. 3 (Routledge, New York, 2018).
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine. Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda (National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2017).
Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E. & Stokes, D. E. The American Voter (Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, 1960).
Sears, D. O. & Whitney, R. E. Political Persuasion (General Learning, Morristown, 1973).

Sorted by citations

Items 301–400 of 731

Introduction
Persily, N., & Tucker, J. A. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108890960.002 · Cited by 11
Participating in a climate prediction market increases concern about global warming
Cerf, M., Matz, S., & MacIver, M. A. (2023) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01679-4 · Cited by 11
Assessing and Understanding Reactance, Self-Exemption, Disbelief, Source Derogation and Information Conflict in Reaction to Overdiagnosis in Mammography Screening: Scale Development and Preliminary Validation
Scherer, L. D., Suresh, K., Lewis, C. L., McCaffery, K. J., Hersch, J. K., Cappella, J. N., Morse, B., Tate, C. E., Mosley, B., Schmiege, S. J., et al. (2023) · Medical Decision Making · doi:10.1177/0272989x231195603 · Cited by 10
“21,22 We named this experienced discrepancy between new information and past messages or beliefs ‘‘information conflict.’’”
Background
Public Perceptions of Energy Scarcity and Support for New Energy Technologies: A Western U.S. Case Study
Buylova, A., Steel, B. S., & Simon, C. A. (2020) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en13010238 · Cited by 11
COVID-19 and Politically Motivated Reasoning
Maguire, A., Persson, E., Västfjäll, D., & Tinghög, G. (2022) · Medical Decision Making · doi:10.1177/0272989x221118078 · Cited by 10
“In the US context, Democrats have been found to be more likely to trust scientific reports on climate change than Republicans, 28 and Democrats were more likely to correctly interpret numerical information showing that banning guns decreased crime rates, whereas Republicans were more likely to…”
Influential
Untitled work
(2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/ar96c · Cited by 12
Hearing and speaking the other side: The roles of expression and opinion climate perception in political polarization
Lee, S., & Cho, J. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107672 · Cited by 11
Hedonism as a motive for information search: biased information-seeking leads to biased beliefs
Jiwa, M., Cooper, P. S., Chong, T. T. ‐., & Bode, S. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-29429-8 · Cited by 10
Belief in divine (versus human) control of earth affects perceived threat of climate change
Kane, J., & Perry, S. L. (2024) · npj Climate Action · doi:10.1038/s44168-024-00163-9 · Cited by 9
“Given the size and global in ﬂ uence of the U.S., understanding the social bases for American citizens ’ persistent skepticism toward climate science is of critical concern 1 – 4 .”
Reimagining Science and Technology Education in the COVID-19 Portal
Alsop, S., & Bencze, L. (2020) · Journal for Activist Science and Technology Education · doi:10.33137/jaste.v11i2.34537 · Cited by 9
Impact of Climate Change on Transportation Infrastructure: Comparing Perception Differences between the US Public and the Department of Transportation (DOT) Professionals
Aroke, O., Esmaeili, B., & Kim, S. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su132111927 · Cited by 8
How do human actions affect fisheries? Differences in perceptions between fishers and scientists in the Maine lobster fishery
McClenachan, L., Record, N. R., & Waller, J. D. (2022) · FACETS · doi:10.1139/facets-2021-0030 · Cited by 9
Confirmation Bias in Seeking Climate Information: Employing Relative Search Volume to Predict Partisan Climate Opinions
Wang, Y., & Jaidka, K. (2023) · Social Science Computer Review · doi:10.1177/08944393231160963 · Cited by 10
“Previous experiment-based studies have spotted con ﬁ rmation bias as an explanatory mechanism for understanding the partisan polarization in climate opinions (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Zhou & Shen, 2021).”
Background
Momentum in the polls raises electoral expectations
Barnfield, M. (2023) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102656 · Cited by 9
Effective stakeholder engagement in environmental problem-solving though group model building: An Oklahoma case study
Olofsson, K. L., Selvakumar, P. P., Peach, K., León-Corwin, M., Stormer, S., Gupta, K., Carlson, N., & Sibley, M. (2023) · Environmental Challenges · doi:10.1016/j.envc.2023.100755 · Cited by 9
Political Strategies to Overcome Climate Policy Obstructionism
Srivastav, S., & Rafaty, R. (2022) · Perspectives on Politics · doi:10.1017/s1537592722002080 · Cited by 9
“We focus on perceived welfare because the true level of welfare an agent experiences in response to different scenarios may differ from how the agent perceives the matter ex ante because of misinformation and biases (Druckman and McGrath 2019; Mildenberger and Tingley 2019).”
Background
Threats of COVID-19 arouse public awareness of climate change risks
Gong, Y., Li, Y., Zhang, L., Lee, T. M., & Sun, Y. (2022) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105350 · Cited by 9
“For instance, with heightened negative emotions generalized to domains beyond the pandemic, such as worry or anxiety, ‘‘motivated reasoning’’ (Druckman and McGrath, 2019) might cause people to accept the education about the severe consequences of climate change more readily, especially considering…”
‘They say they don’t see color, but maybe they should!’ Authoritarian populism and colorblind liberal political culture
Carolan, M. (2020) · The Journal of Peasant Studies · doi:10.1080/03066150.2020.1739654 · Cited by 9
Disaster experience mitigates the partisan divide on climate change: Evidence from Texas
Chen, T. H. Y., Fariss, C. J., Shin, H., & Xu, X. (2024) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102918 · Cited by 8
“The Poor Are Hit the Hardest”—Norwegians' Perceptions of Climate (In)Justice
Gregersen, T., Helliesen, M. S., & Jagers, S. C. (2025) · Scandinavian Political Studies · doi:10.1111/1467-9477.70002 · Cited by 8
Do Populists Listen to Expertise? A Five-Country Study of Authority, Arguments, and Expert Sources
Peresman, A., Larsen, L. T., Mazepus, H., & Petersen, M. B. (2025) · Political Studies · doi:10.1177/00323217251323402 · Cited by 13
“People generally examine messages less critically if these confirm existing attitudes or come from sources already perceived as trustworthy or persuasive (Ditto and Lopez, 1992; Druckman and McGrath, 2019; Pornpitakpan, 2004).”
Climate impact perceptions and associations with reported behaviors and policy support in three countries
Frings, N. L., Nielsen, K. S., Azad, Z., & Hahnel, U. J. J. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102841 · Cited by 7
Adoption of AI-powered technologies for food upcycling in green hotels: a technology-organization-environment and natural resource-based view perspective
Zheng, D., Wei, B., Waris, I., & Bhutto, M. Y. (2025) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/bfj-04-2025-0436 · Cited by 7
Fostering Hope: Exploring Climate Change Learning in an Informal Museum Setting
Janney, B., Zummo, L., Lohani, M., Sanchez-Torres, S., & Bertuzzi, D. (2025) · Visitor Studies · doi:10.1080/10645578.2024.2446135 · Cited by 8
“People tend to seek out positions that preserve their identity and established worldview, therefore inauthentically engaging with climate change (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Planet or pocketbook? Environmental motives complement financial motives for energy efficiency across the political spectrum in the United States
Forster, H. A., Kunreuther, H. C., & Weber, E. U. (2021) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2021.101938 · Cited by 8
Optimal Persuasion under Confirmation Bias: Theory and Evidence From a Registered Report
Christensen, L. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Political Science · doi:10.1017/xps.2021.21 · Cited by 8
“I choose not to use the term motivated reasoning since the theoretical argument is agnostic to the motives underlying the confirmation bias (Druckman and McGrath 2019; Taber and Lodge 2006).”
Background
General Science Skepticism: Development and Validation of a New Scale
Meier, Y., & Krämer, N. C. (2026) · Collabra Psychology · doi:10.1525/collabra.161957 · Cited by 8
Gute Umweltkommunikation aus Bürgersicht. Ein Citizen-Science-Ansatz in der Rezipierendenforschung zur Entwicklung von Qualitätskriterien
Rögener, W., & Wormer, H. (2020) · Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft · doi:10.5771/1615-634x-2020-4-447 · Cited by 8
Systematic review raises doubts about the effectiveness of framing in climate change communicationPreprint
Fesenfeld, L., Sun, Y., Wicki, M., McGrath, L. F., & Bernauer, T. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-445613/v1 · Cited by 8
Understanding the effects of partisan identity on climate changePreprint
Doell, K. C., Pärnamets, P., Harris, E., Hackel, L. M., & Bavel, J. J. V. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/5vems · Cited by 8
Looking for relief: Developing and testing the emotion‐regulation explanation of selective exposure to political information
Kiil, F. (2023) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12929 · Cited by 10
“They Only Silence the Truth”: COVID-19 retractions and the politicization of science
Abhari, R., & Horvát, E.-Á. (2024) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/09636625241290142 · Cited by 8
“By framing science as a contest between equally valid interests, politicized framings of science encourage members of the public and policymakers to make scientific decisions based on partisan cues rather than scientific advice (Druckman and McGrath, 2019).”
Framing climate policy around energy independence enhances acceptance and perceived effectiveness: evidence from a Finnish survey experiment
Ahonen, S., Leino, M., & Tiihonen, A. (2025) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-025-03859-x · Cited by 10
“In addition, previous studies have also demonstrated that people find those kinds of frames less threatening, which align with their (political) ideology especially in politically polarized contexts such as in the U.S. (see Druckman 2019).”
Evaluation of how US women react to a decision aid informing them of the harms and benefits of mammography: a qualitative study
Morse, B., Parmet, T., Yoder, G., Tate, C. E., Lewis, C. L., McCaffery, K. J., Cappella, J. N., Hersch, J. K., Schapira, M. M., & Scherer, L. D. (2025) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087997 · Cited by 7
“X Jolyn Hersch @jolynhersch Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the study participants for generously dedicating their time and openly sharing their invaluable experiences with the decision aid.”
Political expression of academics on Twitter
Garg, P., & Fetzer, T. (2025) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02199-1 · Cited by 8
“Concerns about declining trust in science have been raised 3–6 , pointing to issues such as lack of reproducibility 7 , partisan polarization 8–10 and misinformation 11 .”
Rebel Governance in the Age of Climate Change
Cunningham, K. G., Gentil-Fernandes, L., Gilmore, E., Huang, R., Jung, D. F., & Loyle, C. E. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009569439 · Cited by 8
WARNING This Contains Misinformation: The Effect of Cognitive Factors, Beliefs, and Personality on Misinformation Warning Tag Attitudes
Kaufman, R. P., Broukhim, A., & Haupt, M. R. (2025) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3757521 · Cited by 11
“The divide is not absolute, however: both liberals and conservatives are more likely to share misinformation that positively reflects their own ideological groups [70] and seek out information that confirms their previously held beliefs [16].”
Individuals, Collectives, and Individuals in Collectives: The Ineliminable Role of Dependence
Hahn, U. (2023) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916231198479 · Cited by 11
“…contrary to the implicit assumption guiding Lord et al. (1979) it is entirely possible for rational agents to draw different (and even opposing) conclusions from the same piece of evidence as a result (see also Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Hahn et al., 2016; Hahn & Harris, 2014; Jern et al., 2014).”
Result
Political reinforcement learners
Schulz, L., & Bhui, R. (2024) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.12.001 · Cited by 8
Correcting misperceptions about ethno‐racial discrimination: The limits of evidence‐based awareness raising to promote support for equal‐treatment policies
Schaeffer, M., Krakowski, K., & Olsen, A. L. (2024) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1111/ajps.12933 · Cited by 10
Public concern about climate change impacts on food choices: The interplay of knowledge and politics
Schuldt, J. P., Eiseman, D. L., & Hoffmann, M. P. (2020) · Agriculture and Human Values · doi:10.1007/s10460-020-10019-7 · Cited by 7
Collectively jumping to conclusions: Social information amplifies the tendency to gather insufficient data.
Sulik, J., Efferson, C. M., & McKay, R. (2021) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0001044 · Cited by 7
A Motivational Cognitive Mechanism Model of Online Social Network Advertising Acceptance: The Role of Pre-purchase and Ongoing Information Seeking Motivations
Mir, I. A. (2021) · Journal of Creative Communications · doi:10.1177/09732586211031166 · Cited by 7
“They are also termed as accuracy motivation and directional motivation (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Background
Earth altruism
Österblom, H., & Paasche, Ø. (2021) · One Earth · doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2021.09.003 · Cited by 7
Applying the Grasp-of-Evidence Framework to Design and Evaluate Epistemically Complex Learning Environments
Chinn, C. A., Duncan, R. G., & Av-Shalom, N. Y. (2021) · Information and Technology in Education and Learning · doi:10.12937/itel.1.1.inv.p004 · Cited by 7
Poll Wars: Perceptions of Poll Credibility and Voting Behaviour
Dawson, S. (2022) · The International Journal of Press/Politics · doi:10.1177/19401612221087181 · Cited by 9
“The similarity of the magnitude in decreased turnout likelihood for non-credible and con ﬂ icting polls is more suggestive of accuracy-motivated reasoning – whereby both polls have been considered – or Bayesian updating than directional motivations (Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
BackgroundInfluential
The explanation-polarisation model: Pseudoscience spreads through explanatory satisfaction and group polarisation
Fasce, A. (2022) · Journal of Social and Political Psychology · doi:10.5964/jspp.8051 · Cited by 10
How do you feel about going green? Modelling environmental sentiments in a growing open economy
Dávila‐Fernández, M. J., Sordi, S., & Cafferata, A. (2023) · Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination · doi:10.1007/s11403-022-00376-3 · Cited by 7
“The main difference with respect to the previous heuristic is that, while in the former case there would be no polarisation if people interpret information in the same way, in the latter sentiments are expected to diverge (Druckman and McGrath 2019, p. 115).”
What governs attitudes toward artificial intelligence adoption and governance?Preprint
O’Shaughnessy, M. R., Schiff, D. S., Varshney, L. R., Rozell, C. J., & Davenport, M. A. (2021) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/pkeb8 · Cited by 7
More Talk, No Action? The Effect of Exposure to Extreme Weather Events on Climate Change Concern and Pro-Environmental BehaviourPreprint
Rüttenauer, T. (2021) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/574uf · Cited by 7
Motivated reasoning and climate change: Comparing news sources, politicization, intensification, and qualification in denier versus believer subreddit comments
Areni, C. S. (2024) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.4167 · Cited by 6
Using Multiple PhET Sims to Investigate Greenhouse Gases within a Real-World Context
Clark, T. M. (2024) · Journal of Chemical Education · doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00551 · Cited by 7
Assessing systematic biases in farmers’ local weather change perceptions
Arora, G., & Feng, H. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-76327-8 · Cited by 6
Identity-protective reasoning: an epistemic and political defense
Flores, C. (2025) · Episteme · doi:10.1017/epi.2025.17 · Cited by 7
“And resistance to evidence can be explained by pre-existing worldviews, values, and cognitive skills (Dorst 2023, Druckman and McGrath 2019, Lepoutre 2020).”
Immunization effect of inoculation messages: interventions against consensus and misinformation to improve public acceptance of recycled water
Fu, H., Li, Y., Wu, Z., Tan, Y., He, W., & Zuo, J. (2025) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-025-05675-1 · Cited by 7
“According to the motivated reasoning hypothesis, further reasoning - including information collection, belief construction, and decision-making - can be in ﬂ uenced by biased perceptions (Druckman and McGrath, 2019).”
A Prospective Role for Universities in Contemporary Geopolitics
Ellis, R. A. (2025) · Postdigital science and education · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-99247-6_2 · Cited by 6
Science Denial
Contessa, G. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009625326 · Cited by 6
People see what they want to see: an EEG study
Yu, H., & Han, E. (2023) · Cognitive Neurodynamics · doi:10.1007/s11571-023-09982-8 · Cited by 6
“This difference can appear through the knowledge level of the recipient (Yu et al. 2023), accuracy and defensive motivation (Bartikowski and Wlsh 2011; Bolsen et al. 2014; Druckman and McGrath 2019; Lundgren and Prislin 1998), etc.”
Voting for the Future: Electoral Institutions and the Time Horizons of Democracy
Birch, S. (2023) · Political Studies Review · doi:10.1177/14789299231204550 · Cited by 6
“…change) has generally found that simply informing people of the dangers of environmental degradation is insufficient on its own consistently to alter attitudes or behaviour (Druckman and McGrath, 2019; Dunwoody, 2007; Heberlein, 2012; Moser, 2010; Patchen, 2010; Van der Linden et al., 2015).”
Do attitudes toward air pollution influence climate change perception? Evidence from online customers in China
Sun, L., Yang, J., Liu, M., Fang, W., Ma, Z., & Bi, J. (2024) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ad89dd · Cited by 6
“It has even triggered a debate over whether efforts to limit emissions should be framed around air pollution rather than climate change, since the accurate knowledge does not seem to influence individuals’ political preferences [12].”
What sways public opinion? An experimental study on moral vs. evidence-based arguments for drug harm reduction
López, P. R. F., Sánchez-Hiza, Ó., Zizumbo-Colunga, D., Lathrop, R. C., & Salazar, J. C. V. (2024) · Drugs Education Prevention and Policy · doi:10.1080/09687637.2024.2440413 · Cited by 6
“…in such cases, relying on evidence-based arguments is often ineffective, as individuals tend to engage in motivated reasoning and select evidence that reinforces their moral beliefs while dismissing information that contradicts them (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Kraft et al., 2015; Rossen, 2015).”
Canadian Parties Matter More Than You Think: Party and Leader Ratings Moderate Party Cue Effects
Guntermann, E., & Lachapelle, É. (2020) · Canadian Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s0008423920000608 · Cited by 8
U.S. public support for biofuels tax credits: Cost frames, local fuel prices, and the moderating influence of partisanship
Goldfarb, J. L., & Kriner, D. L. (2021) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2020.112098 · Cited by 7
Patient Perspectives on the Benefits and Risks of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions: A Qualitative Study
Ingle, M. P., Lammons, W., Guigli, R., Kini, V., Matlock, D. D., Brereton, E. J., & Scherer, L. D. (2021) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s302146 · Cited by 6
Moral Convictions and Threats to Science
Bayes, R. (2022) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/00027162221083514 · Cited by 6
The Fiscal Politics of Immigration: Expert Information and Concerns over Fiscal Drain
Kage, R., Rosenbluth, F. M., & Tanaka, S. (2022) · Political Communication · doi:10.1080/10584609.2022.2109085 · Cited by 5
“The socialpsychological literature on motivated reasoning suggests that citizens are often resistant to new information that contradicts their priors and do not change attitudes in response to new information (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Leeper & Slothuus, 2014; Lodge & Taber, 2013).”
Background
Too strong to care? Investigating the links between formidability, worldviews, and views on climate and disaster
Prokosch, M. L., Smith, C. T., Kerry, N., & von Meding, J. K. (2022) · Politics and the Life Sciences · doi:10.1017/pls.2022.20 · Cited by 5
“…individualistic, free markets) tend to express less belief in climate change, to assign less blame to human factors in shaping disasters, and to report less support for social interventions to reduce impacts (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Feygina et al., 2010; Santos & Feygina, 2017; Hornsey, 2021).”
The Influence of Partisanship on Assessments of Promise Fulfillment and Accountability
Bonilla, T. (2024) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055424000807 · Cited by 5
“Yet, continued debates on motivated reasoning complicate if reasoning is motivated toward partisanship or other directional goals (Druckman and McGrath 2019; Levendusky 2023).”
Voters Share Polls That Say What They Want to Hear: Experimental Evidence From Spain and the USA
Fernández-Roldán, A., & Barnfield, M. (2024) · International Journal of Public Opinion Research · doi:10.1093/ijpor/edae047 · Cited by 6
Filtering perceptions of climate change and biotechnology: values and views among Colorado farmers and ranchers
Carolan, M. (2019) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-019-02625-0 · Cited by 6
“Rather than using facts to objectively arrive at a decision, motivated reasoning explains why/how we rationalize our way into the decisions we already wanted to make (Druckman and McGrath 2019; Lodge and Taber 2013; Mason 2018; Pasek 2018; Taber and Lodge 2006).”
BackgroundMethod
Dealing with Disinformation: Evaluating the Case for Amendment of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
Hwang, T. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108890960.012 · Cited by 12
Factors Associated with Attitudes and Knowledge of First-Semester College Students toward Climate Change
Harrod, S. E., & Rolland, V. (2020) · BioScience · doi:10.1093/biosci/biaa151 · Cited by 6
Does Ability Contribute to Partisan Bias?: Evaluating Scientific Research about Political Topics
Bergan, D. E. (2021) · Communication Studies · doi:10.1080/10510974.2021.1876124 · Cited by 6
“A recent critique of studies of motivated reasoning is that the influence of accuracy and motivational goals are often empirically equivalent, as it is difficult to separate the biasing influence of one’s prior attitudes from accuracy considerations (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Background
Reorienting climate decision making research for smallholder farming systems through decision science
Waldman, K. B., Guido, Z., Todd, P. M., Evans, T. P., Carrico, A. R., & Attari, S. Z. (2021) · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2021.08.002 · Cited by 7
Science Communication in Light of Moral and Social Concerns: Testing a Statistical Physics Model of Belief ChangePreprint
van der Does, T., Stein, D. L., Fedoroff, N. V., & Galešić, M. (2021) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/zs7dq · Cited by 6
Influencing Climate Change Attitudes in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisPreprint
Rode, J. B., Dent, A. L., Benedict, C. N., Brosnahan, D., Martinez, R. L., & Ditto, P. H. (2020) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/bjen5 · Cited by 11
The Democratic Citizen, Political Plasticity and National Development: A Psychological Perspective
Moghaddam, F. M., Salas-Schweikart, R., & Schneider, M. (2023) · Psychology and Developing Societies · doi:10.1177/09713336231180961 · Cited by 6
Climate anxiety - impairment and/or activation? Exploring the roles of mindfulness and emotion regulation
Wullenkord, M. C., Schulz, J., & Geiger, S. M. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102664 · Cited by 8
Human dimensions in flood risk management: Exploring risk perception and climate change considerations among engineers in the US
Pourmatin, M., Ajorlou, E., Farhadzadeh, A., Ghayoomi, M., & Hewitt, E. (2025) · Progress in Disaster Science · doi:10.1016/j.pdisas.2025.100453 · Cited by 5
AI tutors vs. tenacious myths: Evidence from personalised dialogue interventions in education
Corbett, B. J., & Tangen, J. M. (2025) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2025.108828 · Cited by 10
Testing Explanations for Skepticism of Personalized Risk Information
Waters, E. A., Taber, J. M., Ackermann, N., Maki, J., McQueen, A. M., & Scherer, L. D. (2023) · Medical Decision Making · doi:10.1177/0272989x231162824 · Cited by 7
Climate concepts for supporting political goals of mitigation and adaptation: The case for “climate crisis”
Haueis, P. (2024) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change · doi:10.1002/wcc.893 · Cited by 11
“…in subgroups which result in heterogenous effects are often left unmodeled (Fesenfeld et al., 2024), and (3) competing explanations of the effects are empirically equivalent, for example, participants engaging in motivated reasoning versus seeking accurate information (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
The Roles of Identity- and Belief-Driven Motivated Reasoning and Source Credibility in Persuasion on Climate Change Policy
Cruz, S. M., & Carpenter, C. J. (2024) · Journal of Language and Social Psychology · doi:10.1177/0261927x241291572 · Cited by 7
“As described at the outset of this paper, different message effects could hypothetically be accounted for by differences in source credibility even if the participants were motivated by accuracy and not by the need to defend their political identities or climate beliefs (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Influential
Partisan winds: Group-level polarization and issue-framing propel attitudes about local wind farms
Marcos, A., Hartmann, P., Bessette, D., & Árvai, J. (2024) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2024.103848 · Cited by 7
The Puzzle of Myside Bias and Actively Open-Minded Thinking in the Conceptualization of Critical Thinking
Stanovich, K. E. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-82644-3_1 · Cited by 6
Mechanisms of mistrust: A Bayesian account of misinformation learning
Schulz, L., Streicher, Y., Schulz, E., Bhui, R., & Dayan, P. (2025) · PLoS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012814 · Cited by 13
Determinants of Belief – And Unbelief – In Climate Change
Leiser, D., & Wagner‐Egger, P. (2022) · SpringerBriefs in climate studies · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-85322-8_3 · Cited by 5
The Green Elephants in the Room: Perceived Environmental Harm and Support for Regulation Among Republicans
Dacey, T., & Stewart, E. M. (2022) · Sociological Inquiry · doi:10.1111/soin.12511 · Cited by 5
Democratizing Risk Governance
Gattinger, M. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-24271-7 · Cited by 5
The interplay of rational evaluation and motivated reasoning in privacy helplessness: An integrative approach
Cho, H. (2024) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/20539517241237485 · Cited by 7
“In contrast, motivated reasoning is fueled by a directional objective, striving to reach a speci ﬁ c conclusion that aligns with one ’ s pre-existing beliefs or emotional states (Druckman and McGrath, 2019; Kunda, 1990).”
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION: A SERIOUS THREAT TO GLOBAL SECURITY
Samiullah, M., & Khanum, R. (2024) · European Journal of Social Sciences Studies · doi:10.46827/ejsss.v9i5.1659 · Cited by 5
Towards a climate of hope: learning in response to frames at an innovative museum exhibit
Zummo, L., Schultz, C., Janney, B., Clifford, C., Davis, C., & Thompson, L. (2024) · Environmental Education Research · doi:10.1080/13504622.2024.2387755 · Cited by 6
“In turn, learning experiences intended to diminish politically driven divisions can instead trigger motivated reasoning that deepens them (Kahan et al. 2012; Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
Tracking politically motivated reasoning in the brain: the role of mentalizing, value-encoding, and error detection networks
Lois, G., Tsakas, E., Yuen, K. S. L., & Riedl, A. M. (2024) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsae056 · Cited by 10
“Cognitive science approaches motivated reasoning phenomena as deviations from Bayesian rationality whereby belief updating depends on the strength of prior beliefs and the confidence in new information (Druckman and McGrath 2019, Tappin et al. 2020).”
Background
Personal damage from tropical disasters increases Republicans’ support for climate change policies
Ponte, A. D., Shino, E., Gellers, J. C., & Truelove, H. B. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102552 · Cited by 5
Will I have to move because of climate change? Perceived likelihood of weather- or climate-related relocation among the US public
Kim, B., Kay, D. L., & Schuldt, J. P. (2021) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-021-03026-y · Cited by 5
Severe Weather Experience and Climate Change Belief among Small Woodland Owners: A Study of Reciprocal Effects
Denny, R. C. H., Marchese, J., & Fischer, A. P. (2022) · Weather Climate and Society · doi:10.1175/wcas-d-21-0176.1 · Cited by 5
Affective polarization in crosscutting communication networks: Offline and online evidence from Spain
Nordbrandt, M. (2022) · Frontiers in Political Science · doi:10.3389/fpos.2022.921188 · Cited by 5
“However, social psychologists have pointed out that the processing of counter-attitudinal information is cognitively and emotionally challenging, and that it may activate biased information processing that reinforces prejudice and polarization (Festinger, 1954; Druckman and McGrath, 2019; Little, 2019).”
Background
Awareness of COVID-19 at the Local Level: Perceptions and Political Consequences
Haselswerdt, J., & Gollust, S. E. (2022) · Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law · doi:10.1215/03616878-10351896 · Cited by 5
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Pushing low-carbon mobility: a survey experiment on the public acceptance of disruptive policy packages
Thaller, A., Wicki, M., Fleiß, E., Maier, R., & Posch, A. (2023) · Climate Policy · doi:10.1080/14693062.2023.2182755 · Cited by 5
Retracted
Cyber and contentious politics: Evidence from the US radical environmental movement
Zeitzoff, T., & Gold, G. (2024) · Journal of Peace Research · doi:10.1177/00223433231221426 · Cited by 6
“…is equally plausible that both Republicans and Democrats are trying to form accurate beliefs but finding different sources of information credible (Druckman and McGrath, 2019), and that scientific information about climate change does influence opinion, but is eroded by skeptical opinion content…”
Background

Authors: Druckman, J. N., & McGrath, M. C.
Affiliations: Northwestern University (US)
Corresponding author: Druckman, James N.
ORCID: Druckman, James N.
McGrath, Mary C.
Venue: Nature Climate Change
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2019-01-21
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Pages: 111-119
ISSN: 1758-678X (ISSN-L)
1758-6798
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-018-0360-1
OpenAlex: W2902092972
Cited by: 733
References: 98
Citations by year: 2026: 105 · 2025: 100 · 2024: 105 · 2023: 102 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 103 · 2020: 92 · 2019: 21
FWCI: 159.48
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations: Nature Climate Change (publishedVersion)
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Climate Change Policy and Economics
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Risk Perception and Management
Keywords: motivated reasoning, climate change beliefs, belief updating, Bayesian updating, information credibility, partisanship, belief accuracy, science communication

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

The evidence for motivated reasoning in climate change preference formation

Overview

Integrity signals

Verification

Claims the paper makes

Claims other papers make about this one

Citations

Cites

Cited by

Related

Metadata

Record

About these checks