Social Psychology Brown Bag: Motivated Numeracy and Political Beliefs

Abstract:
Do individuals selectively use their statistical expertise when making motivated evaluations of evidence? We investigate this motivated numeracy account of political decision making. Across 3 studies, participants interpreted numerical data about a hypothetical gun control intervention. We assessed participants’ ability to correctly interpret the data, information-seeking behavior, and decision rationale. Our findings show that participants were generally more accurate when the data were consistent with prior beliefs about gun control, but that this effect did not vary at different levels of numeracy.