The role of metacognition and motivated reasoning in the response of psychologists to philosophical criticism.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Franz
Keyword(s):  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Philosophical Criticism

Dilemmas of Distrust: Conspiracy Beliefs, Elite Rhetoric, and Motivated Reasoning

2021 ◽  
pp. 106591292110345
Author(s):  
Scott Radnitz
Keyword(s):  
Relative Weight ◽  
State Level ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Individual

Conspiracy theories are playing an increasingly prominent role worldwide in both political rhetoric and popular belief. Previous research has emphasized the individual-level factors behind conspiracy belief but paid less attention to the role of elite framing, while focusing mostly on domestic political contexts. This study assesses the relative weight of official conspiracy claims and motivated biases in producing conspiracy beliefs, in two countries where identities other than partisanship are salient: Georgia and Kazakhstan. I report the results of a survey experiment that depicts a possible conspiracy and varies the content of official claims and relevant contextual details. The results show that motivated reasoning stemming from state-level geopolitical identities is strongly associated with higher conspiracy belief, whereas official claims have little effect on people’s perceptions of conspiracy. Respondents who exhibit higher conspiracy ideation are more likely to perceive a conspiracy but do not weight motivated biases or official claims differently from people with lower conspiratorial predispositions. The findings indicate the importance of (geopolitical) identities in shaping conspiracy beliefs and highlight some of the constraints facing elites who seek to benefit from the use of conspiracy claims.

A Tale of Bias: Longitudinal Evidence of the Effect of Electoral Defeat on Citizens’ Evaluations of the Economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 604-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Quaranta ◽  
Moreno Mancosu ◽  
Sergio Martini
Keyword(s):  
Party Identification ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Electoral Defeat ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
New Evidence

Abstract The winner–loser electoral status may affect citizens’ perceptions of the national economy. In the context of Europe, this issue has aroused little interest as multi-party competition makes it difficult to study. We look at the 2016 Italian constitutional referendum, a top-down national referendum, which approximates second-order elections and divides voters in two groups, allowing the study of the effects of elections on opinions. Using a pre-post referendum panel survey, results show that losers—relying on motivated reasoning—radically change their retrospective and prospective economic evaluations after the referendum, and that this effect is conditional on party identification. The article provides new evidence on the role of partisan loyalties in the adjustment of economic perceptions.

scholarly journals ‘The enemy within’: Campaign attention and motivated reasoning in voter perceptions of intra-party conflict

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406882090640
Author(s):  
Carolina Plescia ◽  
Sylvia Kritzinger ◽  
Jakob-Moritz Eberl
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Voter Perceptions ◽  
Broad Interest ◽  
Over Time

In spite of broad interest in internal party dynamics, with previous literature relatedly demonstrating that voters are not oblivious to party infighting, very little attention has been paid to the antecedents of voter perceptions of intra-party conflict. This article addresses this research deficit with the support of empirical evidence gathered over the course of the 2017 Austrian national election campaign. The study examines variations in perceived intra-party conflict over time, both across parties and within the same party. We find that although voter perceptions largely mirror actual distinctions in intra-party fighting, conspicuous individual-level variations can also be identified owing to attention to the election campaign and motivated reasoning in information processing. These results have important consequences for our understanding of voter perceptions of intra-party conflict and the role of election campaigns, with potential implications for party strategies during election campaigns.

scholarly journals The impact of elite frames and motivated reasoning on beliefs in a global warming conspiracy: The promise and limits of trust

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205316801771760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle L Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Anthropogenic Global Warming ◽  
The Face ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Original Question ◽  
Behavioral Impact ◽  
The Impact

Given the potential attitudinal and behavioral impact of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) conspiracy beliefs, it is important to understand their causes and moderators. Here, two explanations for the variation in these beliefs are engaged: the first is the choice among elites to frame AGW using the phrase ‘global warming’ (GW) as opposed to ‘climate change’ (CC); the second is partisan motivated reasoning. A theory is then developed about the role of trust in moderating the impact of the two frames on AGW conspiracy beliefs. In the case of CC, which is perceived as less severe than GW (and is therefore less identity threatening among Republicans), it is hypothesized that trust will moderate hoax beliefs among Republicans. In the case of GW, where the implications of existence beliefs have policy consequences that are more unpleasant, motivated reasoning will ‘win out’, and trust will not moderate conspiracy endorsement among Republicans. The results from an original question framing experiment are consistent with the author’s hypotheses. Whilst trust is a welcome commodity to those looking to persuade citizens to support AGW-ameliorating policies, it is not a cure-all, especially in the face of elite partisan cues that edify pre-existing attitudes/identities and arouse a strong desire to engage in motivated reasoning.

The Role of Motivated Reasoning in Optimistic Time Predictions

1997 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Buehler ◽  
Dale Griffin ◽  
Heather MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Motivated Reasoning

scholarly journals TOUCHINESS AND CRITICISM. ON THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHICAL CRITICISM IN CULTURE AND EDUCATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (S1) ◽  
pp. 207-228
Author(s):  
Robert Piłat
Keyword(s):  
Social Practices ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Dense Network ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
Philosophical Criticism

In this article, I am discussing the social phenomenon of touchiness (excessive sensitivity to differences of opinion and lifestyle) as a result of the polarization of discourse in contemporary Western culture. This polarization and the resulting touchiness are partly an effect of media, but the later also reflects structural problems of cultures and social practices. The problems arise from the dense network of potentially conflicting values. I am discussing some diagnoses of this phenomenon and some purported philosophical remedies including departure from the language of values and abandoning the idea of a strong subject of action and beliefs. I am criticizing these solutions and I am proposing the idea of radical criticism instead. I am presenting the idea about established theories of philosophical criticism, including those by Horkheimer, Spaemann, Habermas. I am also presenting a practical application of the idea of radical criticism in education: promoting philosophical inquiry in the classroom.

scholarly journals Correcting Misperceptions: The Causal Role of Motivation in Corrective Science Communication about Vaccine and Food Safety (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aart van Stekelenburg ◽  
Gabi Schaap ◽  
Harm Veling ◽  
Moniek Buijzen
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Default Reasoning ◽  
Total N ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Corrective Effect

Some people stick to beliefs that do not align with scientific consensus when faced with science communication that contradicts those misperceptions. Two preregistered experiments (total N = 1,256) investigated the causal role of motivated reasoning in the effectiveness of correcting misperceptions. In both experiments, accuracy-driven reasoning led to a larger corrective effect of a science communication message than reasoning driven by directional motivation. Individuals’ default reasoning made them just as receptive to the correction as accuracy-driven reasoning. This finding supports a more optimistic view of human receptivity to science communication than often found in the literature.

scholarly journals Correcting Misperceptions: The Causal Role of Motivation in Corrective Science Communication About Vaccine and Food Safety

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-60
Author(s):  
Aart van Stekelenburg ◽  
Gabi Schaap ◽  
Harm Veling ◽  
Moniek Buijzen
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Default Reasoning ◽  
Total N ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Corrective Effect

Some people stick to beliefs that do not align with scientific consensus when faced with science communication that contradicts those misperceptions. Two preregistered experiments (total N = 1,256) investigated the causal role of motivated reasoning in the effectiveness of correcting misperceptions. In both experiments, accuracy-driven reasoning led to a larger corrective effect of a science communication message than reasoning driven by directional motivation. Individuals’ default reasoning made them just as receptive to the correction as accuracy-driven reasoning. This finding supports a more optimistic view of human receptivity to science communication than often found in the literature.

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