Research finds that folks prefer their beliefs to the facts and that institutions lend much to the confusion.

“…(The) study suggests that more people know what scientists think about high-profile scientific controversies than polls suggest; they just aren’t willing to endorse the consensus when it contradicts their political or religious views.”

“One implication…is that we need to try to break the association between identity and factual beliefs on high-profile issues…”

“But we also need to reduce the incentives for elites to spread misinformation to their followers in the first place. Once people’s cultural and political views get tied up in their factual beliefs, it’s very difficult to undo regardless of the messaging that is used.”

“Those groups…produce the factual divisions that are one of the most toxic byproducts of our polarized era.”

Tip Johnson