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Cited by 437Climate Change Communication and PerceptionAcademic Freedom and PoliticsScience and Science Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 63 of the 64 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The Partisan Brain: How Dissonant Science Messages Lead Conservatives and Liberals to (Dis)Trust Science

Nisbet, Erik C., Cooper, Kathryn E., Garrett, R. Kelly·2015·The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
DOI 10.1177/0002716214555474
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Abstract

There has been deepening concern about political polarization in public attitudes toward the scientific community. The “intrinsic thesis” attributes this polarization to psychological deficiencies among conservatives as compared to liberals. The “contextual thesis” makes no such claims about inherent psychological differences between conservatives and liberals, but rather points to interacting institutional and psychological factors as the forces driving polarization. We evaluate the evidence for both theses in the context of developing and testing a theoretical model of audience response to dissonant science communication. Conducting a national online experiment ( N = 1,500), we examined audience reactions to both conservative-dissonant and liberal-dissonant science messages and consequences for trust in the scientific community. Our results suggest liberals and conservatives alike react negatively to dissonant science communication, resulting in diminished trust of the scientific community. We discuss how our findings link to the larger debate about political polarization of science and implications for science communicators.

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Crossref · 10.1177/0002716214555474

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63 of 63 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Citations

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Show all 64 references

Research works printed but not linked: 13

  1. 10.1038/nclimate1547 · DOI · Paper page
  2. Byrne Sahara, 2009, Communication Yearbook, 33, 3
  3. Chaiken Shelly, 1987, Social influence: The Ontario symposium, 3
  4. Kahan Dan M., 2006, Yale Law & Policy Review, 24, 149
  5. 10.1038/nclimate1547 · DOI · Paper page
  6. McGuire William J., 1964, Advances in experimental and social psychology, 192
  7. Mooney Chris, 2011, Mother Jones
  8. Mooney Chris, 2012, The Republican brain: The science of why they deny science and reality
  9. Pew Research Center, 2013, Continued support for Keystone XL Pipeline
  10. Pew Research Center, 2013, GOP deeply divided over climate change
  11. Pew Research Center, 2013, Public’s views on human evolution
  12. Scheufele Dietram A., 2006, Engaging science: Thoughts, deeds, analysis and action, 20
  13. Weeks Brian E., International Journal of Public Opinion

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Metadata

Authors
Nisbet, E. C., Cooper, K. E., & Garrett, R. K.
Affiliations
The Ohio State University (US)
ORCID
Venue
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2015-02-08
Volume
658
Issue
1
Pages
36-66
ISSN
  • 0002-7162 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3349
DOI
10.1177/0002716214555474
OpenAlex
W2132998485
Cited by
437
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 12
FWCI
95.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Academic Freedom and Politics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Science and Science Education
Keywords
political polarization, science communication, public trust in science, conservatives, liberals, audience response

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