We propose that part of the reason why unfounded beliefs are so widespread is because skepticism requires both sufficient analytic skills, and the motivation to form beliefs on rational grounds. The question is not whether citizens possess sufficient information or hold informationorganizing ideologies, but rather, whether they are sufficiently motivated to analyze new information in an evenhanded way. Political scientists brendan nyhan and jason reifler saw the power of motivated skepticism when they. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs 2006. This psychological backup plan for protecting your beliefs is called motivated skepticism. Jan 30, 2017 this psychological backup plan for protecting your beliefs is called motivated skepticism.
In this article, we compare individuals explicit responses on a survey about religion and politics with reaction time data from an implicit association test iat to investigate whether individuals truly associate obama with islam or are motivated reasoners who simply express. Rationalizing voter public opinion quarterly oxford. Political scientists brendan nyhan and jason reifler saw the power of motivated skepticism when they confronted antivaxxers with a variety of facts aimed at debunking myths concerning a connection between the childhood mmr vaccine and autism. We conclude with a discussion of the normative implications of these findings for rational behavior in a democracy. Central to understanding climate skepticism is the psychological process of motivated reasoning the unconscious process of making conclusions, developing preferences, or making decisions in ways that are influenced by, and often aim to align with, an individuals needs, goals, beliefs, and desires kunda 1990. Belief perseverance understanding and overcoming hate.
We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when and why. Motivated reasoning social psychology iresearchnet. The variations that occur in different perceptions of what is presumed to be one object raise the question of which view is correct. Birther beliefs thus appear to emerge from a general disapproval of the president motivated by both political and attitudinal predispositions toward that disapproval. Pdf the motivated processing of political arguments. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. Rationalizing voter public opinion quarterly oxford academic. For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs. Recent polls reveal that between 20% and 25% of americans erroneously indicate that president obama is a muslim. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs taber. Motivated reasoning and scientific beliefs show all authors. In 4 studies, we tested this solution aversion explanation for why people are often so divided over evidence and why this divide often.
The pid act and related policies and procedures are based on an assumption that senior staff of public authorities will be ready, willing and able to comply with obligations to take adequate steps to effectively manage pids and the people who make them. The central question in the study of political psychology and public opinion is whether citizens can form and update sensible beliefs and attitudes about politi. January 23 motivated reasoning and introspection kahan, dan. Citeseerx document details isaac councill, lee giles, pradeep teregowda. Responding to climate change skepticism and the ideological. The vast majority of americans now visit a social media site at least once each day, and a. This is especially true for people who are well informed, which dovetails with findings going back to converse 1964 showing political beliefs to. Motivated reasoning, political information, and information.
In western thought, skepticism has raised basic epistemological issues. We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when, how, why and under what conditions citizens are. Taber, milton lodge american journal of political science, 2006 abstract. Author note an earlier version of this paper was presented at the 20 annual meeting of the american political science association, chicago, il.
Motivated skepticism is the mistake of applying more skepticism to claims that you dont like or intuitively disbelieve, than to claims that you do like. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs, american journal of political science, v 50 3, pp 755769. Feb 02, 2017 this psychological backup plan for protecting your beliefs is called motivated skepticism. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs charles s. Jun 21, 2006 motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs. Prior to reaching such biased information evaluations, individuals tend.
Psychologists call the mechanism behind this motivated skepticism. American journal of political science, 50 3, 755769. Taber stony brook university milton lodge stony brook university we propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when and why citizens are biasedinformation processors. An area of research that promises to shed light on such questions is the work being done in psychology, political science, and related fields on motivated reasoning, which may be defined as a frequently unno. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs request. Motivated reasoning may be observed in virtually any setting.
Because emotional disposition towards a claim isnt generally evidence about its truth, including it in the process of arriving at a belief means holding the belief partly for reasons other than because its true. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs jstor. Motivated skepticism people are motivated skeptics. An important trigger of motivated reasoning is the confrontation with a certain threat to the self. We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when and why citizens are biasedinformation processors. We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when and why citizens are biased. We go beyond previous work focusing on the motivated evaluation of beliefinconsistent information e. Abstract we propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain. Jun 21, 2006 both the confirmation and disconfirmation biases lead to attitude polarizationthe strengthening of t 2 over t 1 attitudesespecially among those with the strongest priors and highest levels of political sophistication. Motivated reasoning, political sophistication, and. Request pdf motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs we propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when and why citizens are biasedinformation processors. We report the results of two experimental studies that explore how citizens evaluate arguments about two political issues affirmative.
Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political. Climate change skeptics and deniers overwhelmingly identify themselves as republicans. Presently, the largest predictors of an individuals climate change beliefs are political party affiliation and age hornsey et al. The second and more difficult problem for those seeking to find attitude polarization is the weak measure ment of attitude change and the severe scale constraints that ensue. Abstract taber and lodges 2006 paper provides powerful evidence that ones prior beliefs shape ones reception of new evidence in a manner that can best be described as inadvertently dogmatic. Motivated recall in the service of the economic system. Directionally motivated reasoning, which is common in processing political information, works differently. Neutral principles, motivated cognition, and some problems for constitutional law, 125 harv. Concern about selective exposure to information and political polarization has increased in the age of social media 16, 2123. This difference in underlying process holds important implications for understanding, predicting, and influencing motivated skepticism. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs, american journal of political science 2006. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs semantic. The motivated processing of political arguments springerlink. Keywords scientific skepticism, political beliefs, motivated reasoning, affect, partisanship, ideology.
In this commentary, we embed the volumes contributions on public beliefs about science in a broader theoretical discussion of motivated political reasoning. Jun 19, 2014 at this point, political psychology is seemingly dominated by motivated reasoningbased approaches, but memorybased theories and interpretations still persist in the broader discipline perhaps reflecting their prominence in both prior research and lay theories of public opinion. Americans are turning to the internet to learn about politics in greater and greater numbers. Jul 01, 2006 motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs taber, charles s lodge, milton 20060701 00. Taber and lodge, motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs, 755769.
The pid act and related policies and procedures are based on an assumption that senior staff of. We find that the work in this volume is largely consistent with our theories of affectdriven motivated reasoning and biased attitude formation. Motivated skepticism in political beliefs 2006, charles taber and milton lodge shift the focus to motivation. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs taber, charles s lodge, milton 20060701 00. Peoples risk estimates often do not align with the evidence available to them. We report the results of two experimental studies that explore how citizens evaluate arguments about two political issues affirmative action and gun control to. Chapter 2 psychological underpinnings of posttruth in. Three steps toward a theory of motivated political. Request pdf motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs we propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs by charles s. When the ideas and information cut against our beliefs, however, we interrogate them harshly, subjecting them to endless scrutiny and a long search for.
American journal of political science, 363, 579616. When were faced with information or ideas that accord with our preexisting beliefs about the world, we accept them easily. In particular, people tend to discount bad news such as evidence suggesting their risk of being involved in a car accident is higher than they thought as compared to good news evidence suggesting it is lower this is known as the belief update bias. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs article in american journal of political science 503. Two experimental studies explore how citizens evaluate arguments about affirmative action and gun control, finding strong evidence of a prior attitude effect such that attitudinally congruent arguments are evaluated as stronger than attitudinally incongruent arguments. We propose a model of motivated skepticism that helps explain when, how, why and under what conditions citizens are prone to be biased political information processors. Our first hypothesis, the prior attitude effect, points to the difficulty people. In the absence of such a motivating threat, people may have the goal of attaining the most accurate conclusion rather than attaining a preferred. Keywords scientific skepticism, political beliefs, motivated reasoning, affect.
Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs authors. Yanss 094 how motivated skepticism strengthens incorrect. Baumgartner, of uncchapel hill, has written extensively on the topics of agendasetting, public policy, lobbying, and framing in both us and comparative perspectives. This is especially true for people who are well informed, which dovetails with findings going back to converse 1964 showing political beliefs to be ideologically constrained rigid among the. Two experimental studies explore how citizens evaluate arguments about affirmative action and gun control. Two experimental studies explore how citizens evaluate arguments about affirmative action and gun. Behavioral reactions to terrorist attacks risk analysis 26. The problem highlighted by taber and lodge is that when individuals possess a directional goal, they tend to integrate new information in a biased, instead of evenhanded, fashion. How motivated skepticism strengthens incorrect beliefs. Taber and milton lodge, motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs, american journal of political science 50, no. Motivated skepticism in political beliefs 757 generate strong affective responses see figure 2, below, for an example argument. Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase.
In the present research we adopt an individual difference approach, as we seek to identify psychological precursors of skepticism toward unfounded beliefs. It is the mistake of applying more skepticism to claims that you dont like than to claims that you do like. The motivated processing of political arguments article pdf available in political behavior 312. In recent years, he has focused on statistical studies of criminal justice issues, including the death penalty, racial dispartiies in traffic stop outcomes, and other. Oct 15, 2008 motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs. Social influences on online political information search. Social influences on online political information search and. In view of the varieties of human experience, it has questioned whether it is possible to determine which experiences are veridical. When motivated by a directional orientation, one takes actions with the hope of defending prior beliefs or behaviors. Motivated skepticism in political beliefs 2006, charles taber and. Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs created date. Individuals who use directional motivation tend to uncritically accept arguments that are aligned with their prior beliefs and tend to disagree or agree less with those that are contrary to their prior attitudes ditto et al. Although studies on the impact of political ideology on beliefs about climate outside anglophone regions is limited, based on the literature related to cognitive processes and social conservatism, the following is proposed.
1037 1182 475 181 916 1235 14 987 706 830 607 641 330 832 153 1053 311 302 1130 230 943 1156 572 179 510 393 1044 165 226 802 83 122 1048 1205 118 827 40 1230 1488 510 549