Author: Matt Davis / Source: Big Think
- Not only does everyone have personal experience with how difficult it can be to change people’s minds, but there’s also empirical research showing why this is the case.
- A new study in Current Biology explains why some people seem to be constitutionally incapable of admitting they’re wrong.
- The study shows the underlying mechanism behind being bull-headed, and there may be some ways to get better at recognizing when you’re wrong.
If you find yourself in an argument about politics, climate change, religion, or any number of conversation topics that are taboo at the Thanksgiving table, you’ve probably silent screamed to yourself, “Why won’t this jerk change their mind? It seems so obvious!” Not only that, but it seems like the crazier position the other side has, the more obstinate they are that you’re wrong, not them.
New research published in Current Biology confirms this feeling: people with radical beliefs actually think differently than those without. Specifically, radicals have less metacognitive sensitivity than moderates.
Metacognition refers to the ability to be aware of and analyze one’s own thinking. Metacognitive sensitivity is similar, but more specific: it refers to the ability to distinguish between one’s correct and incorrect judgements. The new paper, titled “Metacognitive Failure as a Feature of Holding Radical Beliefs,” shows that radicals have measurably less metacognitive sensitivity than moderates.
A radical experiment
First, the researchers developed a model of “radicalism.” They distributed a series of validated questionnaires on political orientation, attitudes towards specific political issues, intolerance to opposing views, belief rigidity, and other domains. From these, they developed two factors that explained people’s responses: dogmatism and authoritarianism, which, taken together, were considered to define a radical.
In this study, dogmatism referred to one’s rigidity of belief and intolerance to opposing viewpoints, while authoritarianism referred to one’s adherence to in-group authorities and norms and aggression towards those who did not adhere to those authorities and norms. It’s important to note that people from both ends of the political spectrum could qualify as radicals based on these criteria, although people with rightwing politics tended to be more authoritarian, which replicates previous findings on the subject.
Based on this construct of radicalism, the researchers took a new sample, measured their radicalism, and presented…
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