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 401–500 of 731

Reasoning about Climate ChangePreprint
Bagó, B., Rand, D. G., & Pennycook, G. (2020) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-128506/v1 · Cited by 5
Corrections of Political Misinformation: No Evidence for an Effect of Partisan Worldview in a U.S. Convenience Sample
Ecker, U. K. H., Sze, B. K. N., & Andreotta, M. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/bszm4 · Cited by 5
Divergence between predicted and actual perception of climate information
Tohidi, A., Balietti, S., Fraiberger, S. P., & Balietti, A. (2025) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf084 · Cited by 7
“Understanding the divergence between anticipated and real shifts in opinions provides valuable insights into the complexities of climate change communication and the effectiveness of public engagement strategies (54).”
Catching Fire in the News
Boydstun, A. E., Laufer, J. R., Card, D., & Smith, N. A. (2026) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009498432 · Cited by 5
Conservatives are less accurate than liberals at recognizing false climate statements, and disinformation makes conservatives less discerning: Evidence from 12 countries
Spampatti, T., Hahnel, U. J. J., & Brosch, T. (2024) · Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review · doi:10.37016/mr-2020-160 · Cited by 4
“…each hypothesis leads to different predictions of how political ideology may influence truth discernment (see Figure 1 in Appendix B): a. Motivated reasoning hypothesis : People preferentially process information congruent with their own political ideology (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Kunda, 1990).”
Background
Evidence Can Change Partisan Minds but Less So in Hostile Contexts
Kim, J. W. (2025) · British Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1017/s0007123424000899 · Cited by 4
“To demonstrate motivated reasoning, however, it is necessary to show not only that partisans resist new information in biased ways, but also that these biases are caused by a desire to reach a particular conclusion (Druckman and McGrath 2019; Little 2021; Tappin et al. 2020).”
Influential
Missing the mark: Avoiding community misengagement in large-scale solar development
Bessette, D., Rand, J. T., Hoen, B., Nilson, R., White, J., Hoesch, K. W., & Mills, S. (2025) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2025.104338 · Cited by 4
Communicating ocean and human health connections: An agenda for research and practice
Reamer, M. B. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1033905 · Cited by 5
“Issues related to OHH and the actions to solve them through policy and other means certainly have the potential to be politicized due to cognitive biases like motivated reasoning (301), confirmation bias (302), and hyperbolic discounting (303) and, as a result, subject to many of these same challenges (162).”
Background
Motivated Reasoning and Risk Governance: What Risk Scholars and Practitioners Need to Know
Beck, M., Ahmed, R., Douglas, H., Driedger, S. M., Gattinger, M., Kiss, S. J., Kuzma, J., Larkin, P., O’Doherty, K. C., Perrella, A. M. L., et al. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-24271-7_2 · Cited by 6
Endorsement of scientific inquiry promotes better evaluation of climate policy evidence
Hughes, J. E., Sauer, J. D., Drummond, A., Brumby, L. E., & Palmer, M. A. (2023) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-023-03535-y · Cited by 4
“2020; Druckman and McGrath 2019; C. Drummond and Fischhoff 2017; Ehret et al.”
Background
Seeing is believing: Climate change graph design and user judgments of credibility, usability, and risk
Courtney, S. L., & McNeal, K. S. (2023) · Geosphere · doi:10.1130/ges02517.1 · Cited by 4
Can green bonds hedge against geopolitical risk? A cross-market connectedness analysis with portfolio implications
Xia, Y., Chen, Y., He, L., Shi, Z., Ji, X., & Cai, R. (2024) · Technological and Economic Development of Economy · doi:10.3846/tede.2024.22088 · Cited by 4
“With the overwhelming evidence of climate change over the past decades, Druckman and McGrath (2019) have raised concerns about reducing carbon emissions and promoting sus - tainable development.”
How to distinguish climate sceptics, antivaxxers, and persistent sceptics: Evidence from a multi-country survey of public attitudes
Clulow, Z., & Reiner, D. M. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0310325 · Cited by 5
“A related thesis is that science scepticism stems from perceptions regarding the credibility of the source [4, 37–41], which is often associated with certain ideological predispositions such as conspiratorial perspectives [42], political conservatism [43] and populism [41, 44].”
Background
Partisan belief in new misinformation is resistant to accuracy incentives
Stein, J., Keuschnigg, M., & van de Rijt, A. (2024) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae506 · Cited by 6
“When in doubt, individuals must decide which sources to believe in. Residual partisan differences in belief may then arise from motivated advice-taking and greater placement of trust in sources that are ideologically aligned (18, 23 – 25).”
Science populism impacts perceptions of credibility across scientific professions
Lerner, B., Hubner, A. Y., & Shulman, H. C. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-14115-8 · Cited by 5
“Moreover, lower credibility perceptions towards these sources permits populists to more readily discount information from these sources 34 .”
Other-Regarding Behaviors and Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers
Sonmez, B., & Iacono, S. L. (2022) · Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World · doi:10.1177/23780231211073392 · Cited by 4
“In a recent review of the literature on motivated reasoning, Druckman and McGrath (2019) pointed out the relevance of “accuracy motivation” to explain how and when people bring their attitudes in alignment with the facts.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Birds of feather flock together: A longitudinal study of a social media outreach effort
Cavanah, S., Owens, S., Kemink, K. M., Riley, C., Kim, S., Lee, J., & Ellis‐Felege, S. N. (2023) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109999 · Cited by 5
Experience and self‐interest: Diverging responses to global warming
Gazmararian, A. F., & Milner, H. V. (2026) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1111/ajps.70061 · Cited by 4
Don’t you see that its cold! Exploring the roles of cognitive reflection, climate science literacy, illusion of knowledge, and political orientation in climate change skepticismPreprint
Trémolière, B., & Djeriouat, H. (2020) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/vp8k6 · Cited by 4
Motivated reasoning about artificial intelligence in public policy: comparative evidence from Germany
Hemesath, S., & Tepe, M. (2025) · Behavioural Public Policy · doi:10.1017/bpp.2025.2 · Cited by 3
“…been documented in various policy domains: peoples’ beliefs about the causes of climate change, for example, biases their evaluation of climate data (Druckman and McGrath, 2019), peoples’ ideological orientation biases their assessment of gun control policies (Redlawsk, 2002; Leeper and Slothuus,…”
Influential
The effects of beliefs on correcting misinformation in memory
Collin, S. H. P., & Klincewicz, M. (2025) · Journal of Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1080/20445911.2025.2553923 · Cited by 3
“In line with previous research, we think that participants with high negative sentiment towards what they are asked to remember and recall might be motivated to actively reject information that is not in line with their own beliefs (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Kunda, 1990; Nickerson, 1998).”
Promoting willingness to pay for environmental charges in electricity tariff: Evidence from a randomized survey experiment
Lim, S., Choi, S., Hong, J. H., Kim, B., Lee, H., & Shin, J.-W. (2025) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108942 · Cited by 3
In two minds: ambivalence and the pathways to polarisation in the digital public sphere
Webb, A. (2025) · Australian Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1080/10361146.2025.2589756 · Cited by 4
“…citizens resolve conflict via directional reasoning, they may adopt one-sided attitudes with greater certainty and extremity than those whose attitude was consistently univalent (Druckman and McGrath 2019; Jonas, Diehl, and Brömer 1997; Kim et al. 2013; Lavine 2001; Taber, Cann, and Kucsova 2009).”
Climate Change and Sustainability Communication—A Socio-Psychological Analysis
Rishi, P. (2022) · Sustainable development goals series · doi:10.1007/978-981-16-8519-4_3 · Cited by 3
I'm Not a Scientist, I Just Know What I See: Hurricane experience and climate change acceptance
Usry, K., Husser, J. A., & Sparks, A. C. (2022) · Social Science Quarterly · doi:10.1111/ssqu.13196 · Cited by 4
Biased learning from elections
Little, A. T., Mack, A., & Pepinsky, T. B. (2026) · Journal of Theoretical Politics · doi:10.1177/09516298261470277 · Cited by 3
Health and environmental risk communication: Avoiding risk information avoidance and unintentional message framing effects
Kloever, A., & Gaspar, R. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-824000-7.00014-3 · Cited by 3
Legitimizing climate action: citizens, experts, and the limits of representative democracy
Fesenfeld, L., Freudlsperger, C., Kuntze, L., & Ingold, K. M. (2025) · Environmental Politics · doi:10.1080/09644016.2025.2481709 · Cited by 4
“2019, Druckman and McGrath 2019, Huber et al .”
Mining contestation as an impetus for natural and cultural heritage protection
Blackwell, B. (2025) · The Extractive Industries and Society · doi:10.1016/j.exis.2025.101633 · Cited by 3
Comparing the efficacy of narrative and didactic inoculation in combating climate change misinformation: impact on misbeliefs and intention to share misinformation
Zhang, B., & Schmierbach, M. (2025) · Journal of Science Communication · doi:10.22323/jcom.1502 · Cited by 3
Partisan polarization and climate action
Druckman, J. N. (2025) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101587 · Cited by 3
Self-citation
Epistemic engagement: examining personal epistemology and engagement preferences with climate change in Oregon
Suldovsky, B., & Taylor‐Rodríguez, D. (2021) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-021-03138-5 · Cited by 3
“This avenue of research may be of particular interest for scholars examining the motivated reasoning hypothesis, where people tend to reject information that is inconsistent with their previously held beliefs (e.g., Bolsen et al. 2014; Druckman and McGrath 2019; Kahan 2012).”
Background
The impact of COVID‐19 and political identification on framing bias in an infectious disease experiment: The frame reigns supreme
Wolaver, A., & Doces, J. A. (2021) · Social Science Quarterly · doi:10.1111/ssqu.13095 · Cited by 3
“Evidence for the use of motivated reasoning to discount scientific data has been found in the COVID-19 context (Pennycook et al. 2021) and for climate change (Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
Background
Effect of visualising and re-expressing evidence of policy effectiveness on perceived effectiveness: a population-based survey experiment
Reynolds, J. P., Hobson, A., Ventsel, M., Pilling, M. A., Marteau, T. M., & Hollands, G. J. (2022) · Behavioural Public Policy · doi:10.1017/bpp.2022.32 · Cited by 3
“Changing people ’ s prior beliefs using educational information such as in this study requires both that the participants are motivated for accuracy and believed that the evidence was credible (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Assessing the Credibility of Constitutional Experts
Braman, E. (2022) · Journal of Law and Courts · doi:10.1017/jlc.2022.4 · Cited by 3
Shifting from climate change denial to acceptance: a mixed-method, semester long case study in an undergraduate first-year experience course
Cordie, D. R., & Maxwell, L. (2023) · Environmental Education Research · doi:10.1080/13504622.2023.2255938 · Cited by 3
“…and opinions from prominent ideologues (Benegal and scruggs 2018). some of this dissonance might also be attributed to limitations an individual places on what information they find acceptable for forming their worldview (Druckman and McGrath 2019) creating denial of new information assimilation.”
Background
True, justified, belief? Partisanship weakens the positive effect of news media literacy on fake news detection
Sude, D. J., Sharon, G., & Dvir-Gvirsman, S. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1242865 · Cited by 3
Partisan Epistemology and Misplaced Trust
Millar, B. (2023) · Episteme · doi:10.1017/epi.2023.46 · Cited by 3
Younger Americans are less politically polarized than older Americans about climate policies (but not about other policy domains)
Inwald, J. F., de Bruin, W. B., & Petsko, C. D. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0302434 · Cited by 3
Results from South Florida Experiment
Palm, R. I., & Bolsen, T. (2020) · Coastal research library · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32602-9_6 · Cited by 3
Moral conviction: A challenge in the age of science politicization
Bayes, R. (2022) · Progress in molecular biology and translational science · doi:10.1016/bs.pmbts.2021.11.003 · Cited by 3
Preference Falsification: How Social Conformity as an Interdependent, Recursive, and Multilevel Process Corrupts Public KnowledgePreprint
Elder, J., Derreumaux, Y., & Hughes, B. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/b2xkp · Cited by 3
The Role of Late-Night Infotainment Comedy in Communicating Climate Change ConsensusPreprint
Clarke, E. J. R., Klas, A., Stevenson, J., & Kothe, E. J. (2019) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/ufg9r · Cited by 3
Politicized climate science: No evidence for science literacy driving motivated reasoning, or polarized belief-updating in a US national experimentPreprint
Fischer, H., Huff, M., & Said, N. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/fyx9e · Cited by 3
OECD Studies on Environmental Policy and Household Behaviour
OECD (2013) · OECD studies on environmental policy and household behaviour · doi:10.1787/23081384 · Cited by 3
Enabling Tipping Dynamics in Food System Transformation: How Information and Experience with Novel Meat Substitutes Can Create Positive Political FeedbacksPreprint
Fesenfeld, L., Maier, M., Brazzola, N., Stolz, N., Sun, Y., & Kachi, A. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3911306 · Cited by 4
Everyone I Don’t Like Is Biased: Affective Evaluations and the Bias Blind Spot
Walker, A. C., Collins, R. N., Walker, H. E. K., Fugelsang, J. A., & Mandel, D. R. (2026) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672261439247 · Cited by 2
The critical role of emotional communication for motivated reasoning
Wolf, I., & Schröder, T. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-81605-6 · Cited by 7
News Media Use and Crime Perceptions: The Dual Role of Ideology
Andersson, D. (2025) · Mass Communication & Society · doi:10.1080/15205436.2025.2471866 · Cited by 2
“Nevertheless, results imply that ideological news consumption shape citizens’ perceptions of societal issues like violent crime, which possibly may lead to biased perceptions of policy (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
The role of public issue salience in the relationship between political orientation and climate change concern: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from Europe
Ladini, R., & Biancalana, C. (2025) · Acta Politica · doi:10.1057/s41269-025-00395-5 · Cited by 2
“The divide between left and right could reflect a process of motivated reasoning (Kunda 1990; Druckman and McGrath 2019): as people’s worldviews would influence how they interpret information, individuals who position themselves on the left or on the right of the political spectrum could find…”
The blame-avoiding effect of sanction-based accountability and its boundary conditions
Li, J., Cui, M., Yang, Z., & Zheng, J. (2025) · Public Management Review · doi:10.1080/14719037.2025.2550682 · Cited by 2
“Empirical work in public opinion has produced substantial evidence for the role of prior attitudes and beliefs in guiding the processing of new information (e.g. Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
Beyond partisan rhetoric: Institutional constraints and local COVID-19 policies in Brazil
Fernandes, I. F. D. A. L., Fernandes, G. A. D. A. L., Touchton, M. M., & Libgober, B. (2025) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118607 · Cited by 2
Climate information on sea level rise risk influences individuals' migration preferences in Vietnam
Bakkensen, L., Nguyen, Q., Phan, T., & Schuler, P. (2025) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02731-1 · Cited by 2
“30 Furthermore, the public skepticism regarding the uncertainty in climate projections may hinder the assimilation of new information about climate change 31 – 34 .”
LLM ‐Supported Content Analysis of Motivated Reasoning on Climate Change
Kim, Y., Liu, Q., & Hemsley, J. (2025) · Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/pra2.1261 · Cited by 2
“This finding reinforces the idea that motivated reasoning operates at the discourse level (Druckman & McGrath, 2019), influencing what users choose to talk about and how they respond to others.”
Beyond NIMBY-ism: rethinking acceptance of housing densification in a direct democratic renters society
Wehr, M., Wicki, M., Wittwer, S., & Kaufmann, D. (2025) · Journal of Public Policy · doi:10.1017/s0143814x25100883 · Cited by 2
“…likely to support environmental protection measures when they are framed as local issues or when they yield positive outcomes at the local level, rather than on a broader or global scale, as suggested by the term “ biodiversity ” (Bayes and Druckman 2021; Druckman and McGrath 2019; Deslatte 2023).”
Examining Ingroup Persuasion and Expectancy Violation as Competing Mechanisms for Biased Information Processing in Social Media
Fu, L., Dai, Y. H., & Jia, W. (2025) · Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media · doi:10.1080/08838151.2025.2605123 · Cited by 2
“For another, a growing body of research shows that individuals often engage in motivated reasoning when forming opinions on controversial issues (Bayes & Druckman, 2021; Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Understanding Partisan Bias in Judgments of Misinformation: Identity Protection Versus Differential Knowledge
Hubeny, T. J., Nahon, L. S., & Gawronski, B. (2026) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/09567976251404040 · Cited by 3
“However, some researchers have pointed out that partisan bias can also be explained in purely cognitive terms (Baron & Jost, 2019; Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Pennycook & Rand, 2021b; Tappin et al., 2020).”
Psychological barriers to improving carbon competence
Herberz, M., Engel, L., Schneider, C. R., & Brosch, T. (2026) · Nature Sustainability · doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01900-0 · Cited by 2
Determinants of Attitudes Toward the Scientific Community: Confidence in the Press as a Mediator of Political Party Affiliation
Denham, B. E. (2021) · Bulletin of Science Technology & Society · doi:10.1177/02704676211019290 · Cited by 2
“As scholars have observed, biased processing of issue-specific information can affect attitudes toward the broader scientific community (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; E. C. Nisbet et al., 2015).”
Background
Second-Order Assessment of Scientific Expert Claims and Sharing Epistemic Burdens in Science Communication
Barimah, G. K. (2022) · Episteme · doi:10.1017/epi.2022.11 · Cited by 2
Reports of the Death of Expertise may be Exaggerated
Santos, H. C., Meyer, M. N., & Chabris, C. F. (2022) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003111474-8 · Cited by 2
Ambiguous COVID-19 Messaging Increases Unsafe Socializing Intentions
Hopkins, V. C., Pickup, M. A., & Matthews, S. (2023) · Journal of Behavioral Public Administration · doi:10.30636/jbpa.61.299 · Cited by 2
RELATING WEATHER TRENDS AND RESIDENCE LENGTH TO LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERNS IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE
Burow, D., Cannistraci, A., Collins-Key, S. A., Davis, H. A., Goldman, W., Grondin, N. S., Maguire, D., & Ellis, K. N. (2023) · Geographical Review · doi:10.1080/00167428.2023.2239879 · Cited by 2
“There are many factors that may contribute to this difference in beliefs, such as the Democrat-leaning political environment in Knoxville (Druckman and McGrath 2019 ) or the educational and regular migration impact of the University of Tennessee (Reimers 2021 ).”
Background
The Inner Turn: Sustainability, Religion and Spirituality
Scarano, F. R. (2024) · Sustainable development goals series · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-51841-6_12 · Cited by 2
Confidence in Pregnancy Among U.S. Women
Greil, A. L., Lowry, M. H., McQuillan, J., Slauson‐Blevins, K. S., Park, N., & Bornstein, M. (2024) · Sociological Inquiry · doi:10.1111/soin.12637 · Cited by 2
Executives Strike Back: Political Benefits of Sanctioning the U.S. Supreme Court
Montgomery, M. D., Rogol, N. C., & Fleming, A. M. (2024) · Journal of Law and Courts · doi:10.1017/jlc.2024.10 · Cited by 2
“10 Finally, individuals may be motivated to form an accurate opinion, and simply view a partisan frame or endorsement within a message as a signal from a valid and trusted source (Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
Motivated political reasoning: On the emergence of belief-value constellations
Barron, K., Becker, A., & Huck, S. (2024) · European Economic Review · doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104929 · Cited by 3
Attitude change by facilitating choice: Experimentally evaluating a social identity‐based intervention to nativist populist rhetoric
Shayegh, J., Baysu, G., & Turner, R. N. (2025) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.13073 · Cited by 3
Wishful thinking in response to events: Evidence from the 2021 German federal election
Barnfield, M., Phillips, J. B., Stoeckel, F., Mérola, V., Stöckli, S., Lyons, B. A., Thompson, J., Szewach, P., & Reifler, J. (2025) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102940 · Cited by 2
“…reasoning models that are often cited in support of dynamic wishful thinking are difficult to distinguish in theory and in practice from models involving no motivated reasoning (Druckman and McGrath, 2019; Fern ´ andez-Rold ´ an and Barnfield, 2024; Little, 2025; Melnikoff and Strohminger, 2024).”
Is climate change a valid reason for migration? Evidence from a conjoint experiment
Faure, M., Kantorowicz, J., & Weiss, A. (2025) · Journal of Elections Public Opinion and Parties · doi:10.1080/17457289.2025.2514195 · Cited by 2
“See Druckman and McGrath (2019). individuals formed opinions based upon screens preventing permeation of information conflicting with long-standing beliefs and stuck with climate change views tied to their respective political lens.”
Sampling and processing of climate change information and disinformation across three diverse countries
Azad, Z. R., Spampatti, T., Gluth, S., Tam, K., & Hahnel, U. J. J. (2025) · British Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjop.70028 · Cited by 5
“This finding that confirmatory source selection increased over time is consistent with reinforcement learning and Bayesian belief updating, where a belief-confirming source can be perceived as increasingly credible (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
“I had to open my eyes”—A narrative approach to studying the process of adult belief change
van den Haak, M., & Grusauskaite, K. (2025) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70090 · Cited by 2
Saving Money or Saving Energy? Decision Architecture and Decision Modes to Encourage Energy Saving Behaviors
Forster, H. A. (2020) · doi:10.7916/d8-wbjn-4w80 · Cited by 2
Individual perceptions of climate anomalies and collective action: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment in Malaysian Borneo
van Gevelt, T., Zaman, T., Chan, K. N., & Bennett, M. M. (2022) · World Development Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.wds.2022.100031 · Cited by 2
Persuading climate skeptics with facts: Effects of causal evidence vs. consensus messaging
Kim, J. W., & Liu, R. (2024) · Research & Politics · doi:10.1177/20531680241237311 · Cited by 3
“On the other hand, we found only modest support for the trust-based explanation (Druckman and McGrath, 2019), in that the causal message — a persuasive approach presumably less reliant on baseline trust — was only slightly more effective.”
BackgroundInfluential
How Partisanship Can Moderate the Influence of Communicated Information on the Beliefs of Agents Aiming to Form True Beliefs
van Doorn, M. (2024) · Social Epistemology · doi:10.1080/02691728.2024.2362680 · Cited by 2
“Many commentators on this debate have argued that the controversy has reached an impasse due to this problem of observational equivalence (Bullock 2009; Druckman and McGrath 2019; Tappin, Pennycook and Rand 2021).”
Making Change Visible – An Explorative Case Study of Dealing With Climate Change Deniers in Forest Education
Hepper, J. (2021) · Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability · doi:10.2478/jtes-2021-0005 · Cited by 2
“This can only be accomplished by sources considered credible (Druckmann & McGrath, 2019).”
Background
Why do we argue about science? Exploring the psychological antecedents of rejection of science
Kerr, J. R. (2020) · Open Access Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka (Figshare) · doi:10.26686/wgtn.17142374 · Cited by 2
Climate Change Denial & Skepticism: A Review of the Literature
Weddig, C. (2022) · doi:10.35650/mw.3043.d.2022 · Cited by 4
“Druckman and McGrath (2019) argue climate denialism can be more accurately explained by the fact that individuals hold differing levels of trust in source materials.”
Background
Metacognitive and cultural cognition accounts jointly explain believing, and spreading of contested informationPreprint
Fischer, H., Herzog, S. M., Rebitschek, F. G., Ketzer, M., & Fleischhut, N. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/2n75x · Cited by 2
Partisan Cues and Public Support for Democratic Norm ViolationsPreprint
Metin, O. F., & Georgarakis, G. N. (2023) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/tyru4 · Cited by 2
Developing Communication Strategies on Climate Change in KenyaPreprint
Fegher, M. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4574958 · Cited by 2
Opinion Dynamics meet Agent-based Climate Economics: An Integrated Analysis of Carbon TaxationPreprint
Lackner, T., Fierro, L. E., & Mellacher, P. (2024) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/rdfze · Cited by 2
What does my group consider moral?: How social influence shapes moral expressionsPreprint
del Rosario, K., Bavel, J. J. V., & West, T. V. (2024) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/dwzq2 · Cited by 3
American Perceptions and Attitudes about Domestic Climate Migrants and Migration
Harris, B. S., Brunson, M. W., & Howe, P. D. (2023) · Weather Climate and Society · doi:10.1175/wcas-d-23-0020.1 · Cited by 1
The influence of partisan news on climate mitigation support: An investigation into the mediating role of perceived risk and efficacy
Choi, S., & Hart, P. S. (2024) · Risk Analysis · doi:10.1111/risa.17659 · Cited by 1
“Liberals and conservatives in the United States also tend to process information about climate change in a biased manner that reinforces their previous beliefs or attitudes, due to motivated reasoning (Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Hart & Nisbet, 2012; Taber & Lodge, 2006).”
Increasing Support for Climate Action Among Older People:An Experiment on the Use of Generational Frames by the Youth Climate Movement
Bogado, N. (2024) · International Journal of Strategic Communication · doi:10.1080/1553118x.2024.2416421 · Cited by 1
“The role of value consistency in framing effects has been extensively documented in the literature on the effects of frame exposure on environmental attitudes (e.g., Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Thirty years since Kunda: addressing critiques to reimagine a model of motivated reasoning
Saucier, C. J., Walter, N., & Demetriades, S. Z. (2025) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1093/anncom/wlae001 · Cited by 2
The Power of Presidential Partisanship: Going Public on Court Reform
Rogol, N. C., Fleming, A. M., & Montgomery, M. D. (2025) · Presidential Studies Quarterly · doi:10.1111/psq.70000 · Cited by 1
“Even these individuals are susceptible to the effects of partisan endorsements, as prior work has theorized that accuracy ‐ motivated individuals may view endorsements within a message as a signal from a valid and trusted source (Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
Public Opinion and Policy Development: A Psychological Approach to Understanding the Role of Public Sentiment in Shaping LegislationA Case Study of Law, Psychology, Media and Policy Development Nexus
Razzaq, R., Riaz, R., Nasir, T., & Hussain, W. (2025) · Annual Methodological Archive Research Review · doi:10.63075/8jz5fk62 · Cited by 1
“In the United States, polarizing topics like gun control and climate change present significant hurdles for legislators, who must balance starkly divided public perspectives (Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
Effects of epistemic beliefs, science populism, and social media use on climate change misperceptions
Wang, M., & Akin, H. (2025) · Public Understanding of Science · doi:10.1177/09636625251343510 · Cited by 1
“This effect may possibly be explained by partisan-driven motivated reasoning, which occurs when individuals rely on partisanship as a framework to process information (Druckman and McGrath, 2019).”
Motivated political reasoning: Testing the emotion regulation account in the case of perceptual divides over politically relevant facts
Kiil, F. (2025) · Politics and the Life Sciences · doi:10.1017/pls.2025.10001 · Cited by 1
“…(Flynn et al., 2017; Hartman & Newmark, 2012; Jerit & Barabas, 2012; Miller et al., 2016; Nyhan & Reifler, 2010; Peterson & Iyengar, 2020; Schaffner & Roche, 2016), others have argued that they may be attributable to more rational processes (e.g,. Druckman & McGrath, 2019; Gerber & Green, 1999).”
An ERP-study on the extent to which partisanship conditions the early processing of politicians’ faces
de Jesus, G. C., Homan, M. D., Petalas, D. P., Bakker, B. N., Bathelt, J., & Schumacher, G. (2025) · Social Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17470919.2025.2532469 · Cited by 3
“…debate vs. concilia-tory discussion), bottom-up influences (e.g., priming, visual cues) (Kawakami et al., 2017), quantity and quality of evidence relatively to prior beliefs (Bullock, 2009; Druckman & McGrath, 2019), and the degree of accu-racy-oriented motivation (Van Bavel & Pereira, 2018).”
Fear of a Dying Planet and Fear of a Dying God: Beliefs About God and Attitudes toward Climate Change in the United States
Bonhag, R., & Upenieks, L. (2025) · Social Science Quarterly · doi:10.1111/ssqu.70081 · Cited by 1
Extreme Weather and Climate Change Attitudes: Limited Partisan Motivated Reasoning in Response to Sweden’s 2018 Heatwave
Linde, S., & Matti, S. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102743 · Cited by 1
Normative Governance for Green Policies: Exploring the Practices of Civil Society
Trætteberg, H. S., & Winsvold, M. (2025) · Scandinavian Political Studies · doi:10.1111/1467-9477.70022 · Cited by 1
From climate crisis to energy crisis: foster public support for renewable energy transition through framing
Chen, C., Benoit, V., Whitmarsh, L. E., & Loibl, C. (2025) · Environmental Politics · doi:10.1080/09644016.2025.2543622 · Cited by 1
“Motivated reasoning explains such findings, arguing that individuals interpret and respond to new information according to their motivations (Druckman and McGrath 2019).”
“We have nothing to do with it”: How statements of denial by armed actors shape public perceptions and emotions
Onder, I. B., & Berlin, M. (2025) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70079 · Cited by 1
“Psychological research shows that people often engage in motivated reasoning , a process by which cognitive judgments are shaped by underlying de-sires and goals (Bolsen & Palm, 2019; Druckman & McGrath, 2019).”
EU Common Fisheries Policy failure? Assessing the role of informational lobbying and policy belief updating processes
Steiner, N., Grunenberg, M. H., & Henning, C. H. C. A. (2025) · dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy Recht und Management · doi:10.3224/dms.v18i1.05 · Cited by 1
Improving Trust in Science Through Communication? The Role of Mediating and Moderating Factors
Wintterlin, F. (2025) · International Journal of Public Opinion Research · doi:10.1093/ijpor/edaf055 · Cited by 2

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