Ideology, Motivated Reasoning, and Cognitive Reflection

Decision scientists have identified various plausible sources of ideological polarization over climate change, gun violence, national security, and like issues that turn on empirical evidence. This paper describes a study of three of them: the predominance of heuristic-driven information processing...

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Vydáno v:Judgment and Decision Making Ročník 8; číslo 4; s. 407 - 424
Hlavní autor: Kahan, Dan M.
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Tallahassee Society for Judgment and Decision Making 01.07.2013
Cambridge University Press
Témata:
Climate change
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive style
Conservatism
Decision making
Dogmatism
Firearm laws & regulations
Heuristic
Hypotheses
Ideology
Information processing
Law schools
NANAKeywords
Nuclear power plants
Studies
ISSN:1930-2975, 1930-2975
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Shrnutí:Decision scientists have identified various plausible sources of ideological polarization over climate change, gun violence, national security, and like issues that turn on empirical evidence. This paper describes a study of three of them: the predominance of heuristic-driven information processing by members of the public; ideologically motivated reasoning; and the cognitive-style correlates of political conservativism. The study generated both observational and experimental data inconsistent with the hypothesis that political conservatism is distinctively associated with either unreflective thinking or motivated reasoning. Conservatives did no better or worse than liberals on the Cognitive Reflection Test (Frederick, 2005), an objective measure of information-processing dispositions associated with cognitive biases. In addition, the study found that ideologically motivated reasoning is not a consequence of over-reliance on heuristic or intuitive forms of reasoning generally. On the contrary, subjects who scored highest in cognitive reflection were the most likely to display ideologically motivated cognition. These findings corroborated an alternative hypothesis, which identifies ideologically motivated cognition as a form of information processing that promotes individuals’ interests in forming and maintaining beliefs that signify their loyalty to important affinity groups. The paper discusses the practical significance of these findings, including the need to develop science communication strategies that shield policy-relevant facts from the influences that turn them into divisive symbols of political identity.
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ISSN:1930-2975
1930-2975
DOI:10.1017/s1930297500005271