TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluations of science are robustly biased by identity concerns

AU - Salvatore, Jessica

AU - Morton, Thomas A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Matthew Hornsey and another (anonymous) reviewer for their feedback on an earlier version of this paper, and acknowledge the contributions of undergraduate students (Jona Cumani, Taylor Fischer, Reiko Regan, and Baylee Worth) to data collection for Experiment 1. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.

PY - 2021/5/31

Y1 - 2021/5/31

N2 - People are known to evaluate science based on whether it (dis)affirms their collective identities. We examined whether personal identity concerns also bias evaluation processes by manipulating the degree to which summaries of ostensible scientific research about an unfamiliar topic manipulating whether summaries were or inconsistent with how participants thought about themselves. In three preregistered experiments (N = 644) conducted across two continents, participants were more likely to believe the science when its conclusions aligned with prior understanding of their self, effects that were mediated through positive emotional reactions. Two of the experiments also tested a de-biasing intervention: prior to evaluating science, participants received a brief tutorial on the ecological fallacy (of which, self-related biases represent a special case). The tutorial did not mitigate identity-biased evaluations. This experimental evidence raises questions about whether it is possible to engage global citizens more fully in science consumption while not further triggering identity-based biasing processes.

AB - People are known to evaluate science based on whether it (dis)affirms their collective identities. We examined whether personal identity concerns also bias evaluation processes by manipulating the degree to which summaries of ostensible scientific research about an unfamiliar topic manipulating whether summaries were or inconsistent with how participants thought about themselves. In three preregistered experiments (N = 644) conducted across two continents, participants were more likely to believe the science when its conclusions aligned with prior understanding of their self, effects that were mediated through positive emotional reactions. Two of the experiments also tested a de-biasing intervention: prior to evaluating science, participants received a brief tutorial on the ecological fallacy (of which, self-related biases represent a special case). The tutorial did not mitigate identity-biased evaluations. This experimental evidence raises questions about whether it is possible to engage global citizens more fully in science consumption while not further triggering identity-based biasing processes.

KW - ecological fallacy

KW - group processes

KW - personal identity

KW - responses to science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107309130&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1368430221996818

DO - 10.1177/1368430221996818

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85107309130

VL - 24

SP - 568

EP - 582

JO - Group Processes and Intergroup Relations

JF - Group Processes and Intergroup Relations

SN - 1368-4302

IS - 4

ER -