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Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Sinclair, AH; Stanley, ML; Seli, P
Published in: Psychonomic bulletin & review
December 2020

When confronted with information that challenges our beliefs, we must often learn from error in order to successfully navigate the world. Past studies in reinforcement learning and educational psychology have linked prediction error, a measure of surprise, to successful learning from feedback. However, there are substantial individual differences in belief-updating success, and the psychological factors that influence belief updating remain unclear. Here, we identify a novel factor that may predict belief updating: right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), which is characterized by a desire for order, structure, and preservation of social norms. We hypothesized that because people who score high on RWA are motivated to preserve entrenched beliefs, they may often fail to successfully update their beliefs when confronted with new information. Using a novel paradigm, we challenged participants' false beliefs and misconceptions to elicit prediction error. In two studies, we found consistent evidence that high-RWA individuals were less successful at correcting their false beliefs. Relative to low-RWA individuals, high-RWA individuals were less likely to revise beliefs in response to prediction error. We argue that RWA is associated with a relatively closed-minded cognitive style that negatively influences belief updating.

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Published In

Psychonomic bulletin & review

DOI

EISSN

1531-5320

ISSN

1069-9384

Publication Date

December 2020

Volume

27

Issue

6

Start / End Page

1348 / 1361

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Personality
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Culture
  • Concept Formation
  • Cognition
  • Authoritarianism
 

Citation

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Sinclair, A. H., Stanley, M. L., & Seli, P. (2020). Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27(6), 1348–1361. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01767-y
Sinclair, Alyssa H., Matthew L. Stanley, and Paul Seli. “Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 27, no. 6 (December 2020): 1348–61. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01767-y.
Sinclair AH, Stanley ML, Seli P. Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error. Psychonomic bulletin & review. 2020 Dec;27(6):1348–61.
Sinclair, Alyssa H., et al. “Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, vol. 27, no. 6, Dec. 2020, pp. 1348–61. Epmc, doi:10.3758/s13423-020-01767-y.
Sinclair AH, Stanley ML, Seli P. Closed-minded cognition: Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating following prediction error. Psychonomic bulletin & review. 2020 Dec;27(6):1348–1361.
Journal cover image

Published In

Psychonomic bulletin & review

DOI

EISSN

1531-5320

ISSN

1069-9384

Publication Date

December 2020

Volume

27

Issue

6

Start / End Page

1348 / 1361

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Personality
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Culture
  • Concept Formation
  • Cognition
  • Authoritarianism