1. Political Scientific
Reasoning:
An Examination of Source
and Content Effects
Jerry Douglas Pickard

2. Political Scientific Reasoning
 Scientific topics have become politicized.
 Political Polarization
 Increased since 1980s (Azzimonti, 2013)
 Labels “Right Wing” and “Left Wing” partly to
blame. (Seyle & Newman, 2006)
 Why, even in the face of mounting empirical
data, do groups refuse to agree on important
topics?

3. Literature
 Motivated Reasoning (Kunda, 1990)
 Using one’s reasoning skills to interpret information
in a particular manner.
 Motivated Numeracy (Kahan et al. 2013)
 Using one’s strong ability to read and interpret
scientific information in a particular manner.
 Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986)
 Cultural Cognition Hypothesis (Kahan, 2010)

4. Hypotheses
 Hypothesis 1
 There will be main effects for source and information
as well as an interaction between source and
information if Social Identity Theory is supported.
 Hypothesis 2
 There will be a significant affiliation main effect in
which Democratic participants provide higher ratings
(i.e., more positive) of the Affordable care Act than
would Republican participants.

5. Methodology
 164 participants read false research
 75% Female, 25% Male
 52% Democrat, 48% Republican
 Hypothetical Research
 1. Democratic Source negative information
 2. Democratic Source positive information
 3. Republican Source negative information
 4. Republican Source positive information

6. Results
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Democrat Republican
AffordableCareActRating
Negative
Positive

7. Discussion
 Social Identity Theory NOT supported
 Cultural Cognition semi-supported
 Information influenced Democrats
 Values drove republicans
 Salience
 Partisan Topic
 Media Outlets

8. Limitations & Future Research
 Pre—test/post-test methodology
 Multiple or Bipartisan Topics
 Objective political measure

9. References
 Azzimonti, M., (2013) The Political Polarization Index. FRB of Philadelphia Working
Paper No. 13-41. Retrieved from http://marina-azzimonti.com/papers/Polariz2.pdf
 Kahan, D. M. (2010). Fixing the communications failure. Nature, 463, 296-297.
Retrieved from http://www.law.smu.edu/getmedia/18c4a315-f56a-4d85-b89f-
371ef953e2be/-3--Dan-Kahan---Fixing-the-Communications-Failure
 Kahan, D. M., Peters, E., Dawson, E. & Slovic, P. (2013). Motivated Numeracy and
Enlightened Self-Government. Yale Law School, Public Law Working Paper No. 307.
Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2319992
 Kunda, Z. (1990) The Case for Motivated Reasoning. Psychological Bulletin. 108,
480-498. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480
 Seyle, D. C., Newman, M. L., (2006). A house divided? The psychology of red and
blue America. American Psychologist. 61, 6. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.61.6.571
 Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior.
Psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed), 7-24. Chicago:Nelson-Hall