Did you know that you fail at math problems that contradict your political beliefs?
1,111 test subjects +
2 fake scientific studies. Different subjects but same data
+
4 questions involving calculation
=
1.) Correct responses on apolitical questions 2.) Incorrect responses on political questions
How it works
Participants, what we know:
Numeracy = ability of participants to solve math problems
Political views= from conservative republican to progressive democrat
Question: What result is most supported by the study?
Results:
Apolitical Questions:
Of all numeracy percentiles= 59% got the question wrong
Of 50th+ numeracy percentiles= 48% supplied the correct answer
90th+ percentile=75% supplied the correct answer
59% of of all participants messed up the math
Those above the 90th numeracy percentile answered correctly 75% of the time.
Political questions:
Above the 90th numeracy, 57% answered correctly.
Higher Numeracy individuals use their cognitive abilities opportunistically to promote identity-protective beliefs.
With a representative profile:
52/48% female/male
48=Average Age 73% white
11% black
16% other
28% republican/36%democrat/30% independent Average of ‘some college’
$40,000-$49,000 mean salary
This tendency is well documented across political issues. Politics ruins our ability to look at evidence objectively, and even to DO MATH.
Citations: