Many incorrect beliefs have political foundations. They promote a policy, an ideology, or one candidate over another. People are susceptible to political misinformation because they tend to believe things that favor their side–even if it isn’t grounded in data or science. There are numerous factors at play, from the influence of non-conscious emotions to the need to defend a group that the individual identifies with.
For these reasons, millions of Americans believe things that aren’t true. People reject the conclusions of scientists when they deny humans’ role in promoting climate change, question the safety of genetically modified foods, or refuse to have their children vaccinated. They reject the assessments of fact checkers, incorrectly believing that president Obama was born outside the US or that Russia successfully tampered with vote tallies in the 2016 presidential election. And certain conspiracy theories–like the belief that president Kennedy’s assassination was orchestrated by a powerful secret organization–are remarkably persistent. [...]
Our study focuses on something else that shapes beliefs: We looked at what matters the most to people when they’re deciding what’s true. We found that having faith in your intuition about the facts does make you more likely to endorse conspiracy theories. However, it doesn’t really influence your beliefs about science, such as vaccine safety or climate change. In contrast, someone who says beliefs must be supported with data is more likely both to reject conspiracy theories and to answer questions about mainstream science and political issues more accurately.
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