Investigating Adolescents’ Openness to the Opposing View

• In Event: Civic Practices, Education Policy and Diverse Perspectives

Abstract

At a time of increasing fragmentation and polarization, we ask: How do adolescents respond when they are exposed to the opposing view? In a study of high school students (N = 961), we examined youths’ engagement with perspectives and information that agreed and disagreed with their view on whether cellphones should be allowed during class in high school. Adolescents exposed themselves to more perspectives and information that matched, rather than challenged, their opinion, but youth were not entirely unwilling to consider the opposing perspective. Students who scored higher on an intellectual humility questionnaire tended to be more open to the opposing view, whereas curiosity and creativity did not correlate as reliability with openness. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Authors

• Tenelle Porter, Rowan University

• Jon M. Valant, Brookings

• Daniel Newark, HEC Paris