The Elusive Backfire Effect: Mass Attitudes' Steadfast Factual Adherence
Wood & Porter (2019) · Political Behavior, 41
We use this paper in 1 place in the academy · 1 stated limit
What it corrects
This study corrects a popular claim. The claim is the backfire effect: the idea that correcting someone makes their belief stronger. Across thirty thousand participants, the effect was hard to find. People mostly moved towards the facts.
What the study found
In five experiments with more than 10,100 people and 52 disputed issues, factual corrections did not backfire as people fear. People mostly accepted the correction.
What the study cannot prove
The studies were about political facts, not personal disagreements, and they do not show that being told you are wrong feels pleasant. They do show that Carnegie's absolute rule is too strong.
Where we use it
We use this paper in 1 place in the academy. If the paper turned out to be wrong, we would have to change everything in this list. Some of the exercise instructions below are part of Gold. You can read every finding for free.
In the topics · 1
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A real study. We tell you what it found, how many people were in it, and what it can't prove.
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