Social science literature about political beliefs and climate change has traditionally held that giving certain kinds of conservatives more information about climate change just leads to stronger denial. The idea behind this "cultural cognition theory" is that conservatives see climate change as a liberal issue; they believe that — in order to be a conservative — they must deny the need for action. But now, a new paper in the European Journal of Social Psychology finds that providing basic information about climate science may actually help overcome personal bias, depending on the flavor of conservative receiving the information. So this provides support to the "information deficit model," which holds that once people know enough about climate change, they'll be motivated to act.
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Dana Nuccitelli provides a great overview of the the study and its context, with the succinct headline: "Facts can convince conservatives about global warming – sometimes." Dana explains how the study shows that conservatives of a libertarian persuasion seem to be reachable, while "hierarchists" (those that prefer distinct social classes) are more likely to sink further into denial when more information is presented.
The research also helps explain why some non-climate scientists, like engineers and physicists, are less convinced than climate scientists—they overestimate their own knowledge, which then allows for their ideological biases (instead of the evidence) to guide their conclusions.
Overall, it's a very interesting development in the ongoing information deficit v. cultural cognition debate!