Opinion

The warm glow of certainty

People with strong partisan identification find it easy to dismiss evidence that challenges their simplistic worldviews. Everything confirms what they already believe.

Did President Obama commit an act of imperial hubris on immigration, or was he simply following the humane lead of Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush? Did police officer Darren Wilson get away with murder, or did Michael Brown force the cop's hand by attacking him? How lovely it would be if we all could judge such questions coolly and rationally, on the basis of evidence. Alas, virtually all of us respond to emotionally loaded issues in a visceral way, and then reason backward to the conclusion that feels right because it buttresses what we already believe. The stronger people's political and moral values, social scientists have found, the more reflexively they react to any hot-button debate. "Morality binds and blinds," says social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in his superb book, The Righteous Mind. "It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle."

That much, at least, is inarguable. Duke University researchers recently presented self-identified liberals and conservatives with evidence contradicting their views on gun ownership and climate change, respectively. Since neither group liked the policy implications of the evidence, each simply dismissed it as lies. Motivated reasoning, as social psychologists call this phenomenon, is highly rewarding: It wards off the discomfort we feel when our preconceptions are challenged. It binds us further to our "tribe," filling us with the warm glow of impregnable certainty. But as Haidt points out, self-righteous partisanship has a steep cost: "It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say."

More From...

Picture of William FalkWilliam Falk
Read All
The photos we don't see
people visit the memorial set up near the Allen Premium Outlets mall.
Editor's letter

The photos we don't see

The gender wars
a chalkboard with a list of gender pronouns.
Editor's letter

The gender wars

Destroying court credibility
Supreme Court building in New York.
Editor's letter

Destroying court credibility

The worship of weapons
A woman looks up and prays at the Memorial held at The Covenant School after the shooting.
Editor's letter

The worship of weapons

Recommended

10 states sue FEMA over flood insurance rate hike
FEMA State Disaster Recovery Center after Hurricane Ian
'a natural disaster of its own'

10 states sue FEMA over flood insurance rate hike

Are cannabis social equity programs a flop?
 Green cannabis leaf lying down on sound block and gavel
Talking point

Are cannabis social equity programs a flop?

Should good Samaritanism be legally required?
People holding hands.
Talking point

Should good Samaritanism be legally required?

Does US media ignore missing people of color?
An illustrated image of hands pointing at a white marble, ignoring non-white marbles
Today's big question

Does US media ignore missing people of color?

Most Popular

Why are so many boomers homeless?
Homeless person and tents
Today's big question

Why are so many boomers homeless?

Xi Jinping tells national security team to prepare for 'worst-case scenario'
Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Chinese Troubles

Xi Jinping tells national security team to prepare for 'worst-case scenario'

Fossils uncovered in Australia are 107 million-year-old pterosaurs bones, scientists say
Reconstruction of Australian pterosaur.
ptero-sighting

Fossils uncovered in Australia are 107 million-year-old pterosaurs bones, scientists say