Can Scientific Evidence on Racism and Climate Change Reduce Polarization?

• In Event: The Institutions and Civic Virtues That Support Democracy

Abstract

Recent research suggests that political polarization significantly reduces effective support for democracy in the United States. Interestingly, America is even highly polarized on issues that can in principle be settled by scientific evidence. I argue that this is partly because the media typically highlights that scientists are convinced of something, not why they are. Particularly among citizens that have low trust in authority it may be important to actually explain the evidence behind scientific consensus. I test this theory using two survey experiments focused on systemic racism and climate change, two issues were public opinion is notoriously difficult to move. Study 1 randomly informs White Americans that audit experiments consistently find that equivalent CV’s with a black (white) name are on average 36% less (more) likely to be invited for a job interview. Study 2 randomly exposes Republican voters to a video that explains why scientists are convinced that global warming is real and predominantly human-caused. I measure attitudes towards climate change and systemic racism by survey questions, list experiments, and willingness to donate to anti-racism/climate change charities.

Author

• Sam van Noort, Princeton University