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ResearchCorrects a popular claim

Is Political Extremism Supported by an Illusion of Understanding?

Sloman & Vives (2022) · Cognition, 225

Relied on in 1 place across the academy

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What it corrects

A re-examination of the illusion of explanatory depth as a way to reduce political extremism, by one of the authors of the 2013 paper. Cited here beside it rather than instead of it.

What it found

Explaining still made people feel they understood less, as first reported. But it only softened positions on issues about what would happen, not on issues people held as a matter of right and wrong.

What it does not show

A re-examination of an earlier result rather than a fresh experiment, and it narrows that result rather than replacing it.

Where we rely on it

1 place in the academy. If this paper turned out to be wrong, this is the list that would have to change.

Cited alongside it

Papers that sit under the same topics and films. Not a claim that they agree with each other — only that the same exercises lean on both.

Research

A real study. We tell you what it found, how many people were in it, and what it can't prove.

Free to read, link to and quote. If we have carried this paper further than it goes, say so at contact@suaviq.com — corrections to this registry are the most useful mail we get.