We should always consider the "Backfire Effect" when trying to understand conservatives

[Motown_Johnny]

In the light of Herman Cain raising another $2 million since the sexual harassment allegations were uncovered I think it is time we all remind ourselves that their brains just don't work the same way ours do.

IMO this is one of the major reasons why they keep getting it wrong.


http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/nyhan-reifler.pdf


^snip^


For very liberal subjects, the correction worked as expected, making them more likely to
disagree with the statement that Iraq had WMD compared with controls. The correction
did not have a statistically significant effect on individuals who described themselves as
liberal, somewhat left of center, or centrist. But most importantly, the effect of the
correction for individuals who placed themselves to the right of center ideologically is
statistically significant and positive. In other words, the correction backfired –
conservatives who received a correction telling them that Iraq did not have WMD were
more likely to believe that Iraq had WMD than those in the control condition.