Gridlock
Senior Member.
Sorry if this is the wrong topic, or I shouldn't have started a new thread, I'm new here
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/opening-political-mind.pdf
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/opening-political-mind.pdf
Seemed very appropriate to what MB is about?
Abstract
Why do so many Americans believe in misinformation? One possibility is that people have not been exposed to clear factual information. If so, then presenting correct information in a compelling format should substantially reduce these false or unsupported beliefs. Alternatively, people may have encountered accurate information but rejected it because it threatened their worldview or self-concept. Drawing from psychology research, we examine whether affirming individuals’ self-worth can make them more willing to acknowledge these politically uncomfortable facts. We find support for both explanations. Results from three experiments show that providing accurate information in graphical form reduces misperceptions. However, self-affirmation also substantially reduces misperceptions among those most likely to hold them even if no other information is provided. The misperceptions problem is thus not simply the result of a lack of information – our results suggest that many people could offer correct answers if they were less psychologically threatening to provide.