Reality Fights: Why Left and Right Believe Different Facts

On Tuesday I’m giving a talk at Louisiana State University with a political psychologist, Everett Young, Ph.D., who has taught on and extensively studied the psychological differences between liberals and conservatives. (For one of his syllabi, see here.)

The talk will be called “Reality Fights: Why Left and Right Believe Different Facts.” Here’s a bit of the write up:

With the increased incivility and political polarization in American politics, it is important to understand why the Left and Right in the United States are unable to agree on factual reality. Liberal and conservative disagreements abound regarding the economy, basic American history, and a host of public policy issues. Drawing on a long line of literature in psychology and political science, in his forthcoming book, journalist Chris Mooney attributes this denial to self-serving and defensive biases to the broad process of “motivated reasoning.”

After I lay out motivated reasoning, Young will then discuss some new research. You see, much psychological research suggests conservatives may be more likely to employ motivated reasoning than liberals, or to do so more strongly. But until now, this has not been directly tested. Young has set up several innovative experiments hoping to do so, however, and he will discuss what the results so far show.

Hold on to your seats…..

Here is more about my collaborator:

Everett Young received his PhD in political science from Stony Brook University in 2009. His research agenda focuses heavily on the psychological differences between liberals and conservatives. Dr. Young was visiting lecturer of political methodology at Washington University in St. Louis in 2010-2011 and is currently completing a series of projects exploring ideology in the United States. Everett Young is from Tallahassee, Florida and holds degrees from Florida State University and Stony Brook University. He has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses at FSU, Washington University, and Stony Brook University.

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