Dan M. Kahan’s research while affiliated with Yale University and other places

... Science curiosity. Participants' science curiosity was assessed using the Science Curiosity Scale [17,64] that asked how closely they followed news related to various topics, how often they had conversations about these same topics, and whether they had read a book or listened to an audiobook on those topics in the previous year; topics included crime, religion, local weather, science fiction, and wildlife, among others. Consistent with prior work, the scale was evaluated and scored using item response theory (GRM Model, [65]). ...

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Fostering inclusive science media: Insights from examining the relationship between women’s identities and their anticipated engagement with Deep Look YouTube science videos

... The non-lossframed ads were entitled "family", "religion" and "geography". These nonloss-framed ads were inspired by different strands of the literature that link religion and health 65 , family and health 66 , and information about local health conditions and health behavior 67 . While this design does not allow us to infer the effects of loss-versus gain-framing (since we do not include a specifically gain-framed ad), it allows us to compare the effect of loss-framed ads with ads that rely on different psychological channels that have been shown to affect health-related behavior. ...

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Can social media encourage diabetes self-screenings? A randomized controlled trial with Indonesian Facebook users

... The science curiosity scale is comprised of 4 items modified from Landrum et al. (2016) and Motta et al. (2021) and is scored as a sum of item responses. ...

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Evidence-based scientific thinking and decision-making in everyday life

... Our second goal is to test whether correcting specific misconceptions about nuclear energy leads to more positive attitudes toward nuclear energy. Studies suggest that factual corrections tend to reduce misperceptions, with some belief updating in the expected direction (van der Linden et al., 2015, Guess & Coppock, 2018Wood & Porter, 2019, for some debates on the degree of effectiveness of these corrections, see, Ecker and Ang, 2018;Kahan, & Corbin, 2016;Nyhan and Reifler, 2010). The issue of whether correcting specific misconceptions has an effect on broader attitudes is much murkier. ...

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Does Nuclear Energy Produce Neodymium? Negative Perception of Nuclear Energy Drives the Assumption That It Is Polluting

... Consequently, misinformation from untrustworthy outlets has caused certain individuals in society to harbor inaccurate beliefs regarding the virus. [6] Beliefs are fundamental components of attitudes. [7] A belief represents a consistent structure of subjective understanding and knowledge regarding a specific element of an individual's environment. ...

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Behavioral analysis and evolution of corona virus encountering in Iranians' from common beliefs to people's performance

... One of the elements that make up this internal wiring is 'cultural cognition' , which refers to how individuals care differently about things depending on their personal and group identity, and whether these beliefs conflict with those of others. 29,30 Social norms refer to the sense of what most people are doing, 18 whereas social proof encompasses observing what people similar to the individual are doing. 10,11 Identity and being part of a group are extremely important, 10,31 and leveraging tribal beliefs and pride is incredibly powerful. ...

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Using Behavioural Science to Help Understand Vaccine Hesitancy

... In such instances, they reach smarter and more accurate conclusions that better align with their political preferences and preconceptions. Hence, people engage in expressive rationality, using their intelligence not to seek impartial truth but instead to ratify conclusions affirming their identity and worldview (Kahan, 2017). ...

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Psychological Mechanisms Underlying the Biased Interpretation of Numerical Scientific Evidence

... Another way individuals perceive risk is according to what reinforces their commitments to the group to which their views belong [16]. This perception could be independent from the best available evidence and sometimes in conflict with it [17]. The second way relates to the cultural-cognitive aspect of risk perception and explains why groups with opposing political views tend to disagree on important social topics. ...

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Perception of General Health Risks About COVID-19 Among Members of Opposing Political Parties in North Macedonia

... The science curiosity scale is comprised of 4 items modified from Landrum et al. (2016) and Motta et al. (2021) and is scored as a sum of item responses. ...

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Evidence-based scientific thinking and decision-making in everyday life

... Kulttuurisella ymmärryksellä on merkitystä biologian opetuksessa; mitä vahvemmin yksilön mielipide edustaa polarisaation ääripäitä, sitä enemmän hän myös saattaa tietää kiistanalaisesta aiheesta. Esimerkiksi Yhdysvalloissa kaikkein vankimmin evoluution kieltävät henkilöt myös tietävät enemmän evoluutiosta kuin vähemmän polarisoituneet (Kahan, 2017). Tällöin tieteellinen lisätieto ei välttämättä vähennä kielteistä asemoitumista tieteellistä tietoa kohtaan, vaan voi entisestään lisää sitä. ...

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Biologian opetus ja tiedekasvatus kestävän tulevaisuuden edistäjinä