Reducing polarization and misinformation susceptibility through intellectual humility? Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

Belief polarization has reached historic highs in the United States, with individuals not only disagreeing with outgroup members but also loathing them for their differences in opinion. Alongside this rise in polarization is a rise in misinformation. Misinformation has the power to spread like a wildfire and has the potential to affect important behaviors, such as a willingness to engage with evidence. This dissertation explores one potentially fruitful path toward reducing both polarization and misinformation susceptibility: intellectual humility. Intellectual humility broadly refers to tendencies to recognize one’s intellectual limitations and remain open to updating one’s beliefs. Across 4 chapters, I examined whether intellectual humility is related to less (1) political and religious polarization, (2) political myside bias, (3) conspiratorial ideation, and (4) misinformation susceptibility. In Chapter 1, I found that intellectual humility was related to less affective and ideological polarization for political and religious beliefs. In Chapter 2, I discovered that intellectual humility was related to less political myside bias across political identities. In Chapter 3, I found that intellectual humility was related to less conspiratorial ideation. Finally, in Chapter 4, I showed that intellectual humility was related to less conspiratorial ideation and more of an ability to discern between real and false news headlines. Altogether, these findings indicate that intellectual humility can help illuminate why some people are less susceptible to polarization and misinformation than others. What is more, this work holds the potential to inform future interventions aimed at bridging divides and boosting accuracy in the everyday world. 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

General Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… p. 1

Chapter 1

           Background ……………………………………………………………………… p. 10

           Methods ……………………………………………………………………… p. 15

           Results ……………………………………………………………………… p. 22

           Discussion ……………………………………………………………………… p. 32

Chapter 2

Background ……………………………………………………………………… p. 39

           Methods ……………………………………………………………………… p. 46

           Results ……………………………………………………………………… p. 57

           Discussion ……………………………………………………………………… p. 71

Chapter 3

Background ……………………………………………………………………… p. 79

           Methods ……………………………………………………………………… p. 82

           Results ……………………………………………………………………… p. 86

           Discussion ……………………………………………………………………… p. 91

Chapter 4

Background ……………………………………………………………………… p. 96

           Methods ……………………………………………………………………… p. 101

           Results ……………………………………………………………………… p. 112

           Discussion ……………………………………………………………………… p. 134

General Discussion ……………………………………………………………………… p. 146

References ……………………………………………………………………… p. 155

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Clinical Psychology
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Personality Psychology, Social
Keyword	intellectual humility conspiracy theory misinformation polarization bias
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Arber Tasimi, Emory University
Committee Members	Elaine Walker, Emory University Don Davis, Georgia State University Michael Treadway, Emory University Daniel Dilks, Emory University

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