September 15, 2008
the effects of refutation on conservative partisans
A study shows that conservative partisans believe misinformation more after it is refuted.
Bullock and others have also shown that some refutations can strengthen misinformation, especially among conservatives.
Political scientists Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler provided two groups of volunteers with the Bush administration’s prewar claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. One group was given a refutation — the comprehensive 2004 Duelfer report that concluded that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction before the United States invaded in 2003. Thirty-four percent of conservatives told only about the Bush administration’s claims thought Iraq had hidden or destroyed its weapons before the U.S. invasion, but 64 percent of conservatives who heard both claim and refutation thought that Iraq really did have the weapons. The refutation, in other words, made the misinformation worse.
A similar “backfire effect” also influenced conservatives told about Bush administration assertions that tax cuts increase federal revenue. One group was offered a refutation by prominent economists that included current and former Bush administration officials. About 35 percent of conservatives told about the Bush claim believed it; 67 percent of those provided with both assertion and refutation believed that tax cuts increase revenue.
In a paper approaching publication, Nyhan, a PhD student at Duke University, and Reifler, at Georgia State University, suggest that Republicans might be especially prone to the backfire effect because conservatives may have more rigid views than liberals: Upon hearing a refutation, conservatives might “argue back” against the refutation in their minds, thereby strengthening their belief in the misinformation. Nyhan and Reifler did not see the same “backfire effect” when liberals were given misinformation and a refutation about the Bush administration’s stance on stem cell research.
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now there’s a surprise….
I think we could explode their heads if we showed them this study then refuted it.
“Nyhan and Reifler did not see the same “backfire effect” when liberals were given misinformation and a refutation about the “Bush” administration’s stance on stem cell research.”
- Switch Bush with Clinton. wash, rinse, and repeat.
Some people dont believe everything they read.
Just saying, If your giving the conservative’s misinformation and refutation on Republicans. Then be fair and give the liberal’s misinformation and refutation on Democrats. Just seems like this study was “designed” to give the results they show. And yes i refute all things ~_~