The Partisan Brain: The Science of Communication about Controversial Science

There has been deepening concern about political polarization in public attitudes toward the scientific community and/or scientific knowledge. Many attribute this polarization to psychological deficiencies among conservatives as compared to liberals. This attribution, however, is inconsistent with our knowledge of basic psychology and the empirical literature on how ideology influences science attitudes. Drawing from interdisciplinary research in the fields of communication, psychology, and political science, we review the scientific literature on partisanship and public attitudes about science, what drives perceptual divides about many science topics, and what lessons we may draw for more effective science communication across ideological and value differences.

About Erik Nisbet

Erik C. Nisbet (Ph.D., Cornell University) is an associate professor of communication, environmental policy, and political science at the Ohio State University, a member of the Human Dimensions of the Environment research group at the Ohio State University, and a faculty associate at the OSU Mershon Center for International Security Studies. Erik’s research focuses on the intersection of science and politics while informing best practices for communicating across ideological and value differences. Erik has published more than thirty journal articles and book chapters, including in Nature Climate Change, Public Understanding of Science, and Science Communication. His research has also been supported by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation.