Article Version of Record

Not All Education is Equally Liberal: The Effects of Science Education on Political Attitudes

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Ma-Kellams, Christine
Ruiz, Aida Rocci
Lee, Jacqueline
Madu, Andrea

Abstract / Description

Education stands as a potent predictor of political attitudes; however, the underlying mechanisms and moderators of this relationship are not well-understood. We hypothesize that the liberalizing effect of education is moderated by discipline, and that the scientific ethos that serves to guide empirical inquiries facilitates the development of more liberal political attitudes via concerns about fairness and equality. As predicted, being educated in a science-related discipline, as opposed to a non-science discipline, was associated with greater political liberalism; importantly, this effect could not be accounted for by self-selection (Study 1). Furthermore, concerns about fairness and equality, as captured by an individual’s social dominance orientation, mediated the relationship between studying science and political liberalism (Study 2). Study 3 replicated these findings and attest to their generalizability. Study 4 directly assessed the underlying mechanism, endorsement of the scientific ethos, and replicated the mediational model; those who endorsed the scientific ethos more strongly reported more liberal political attitudes, and this was mediated by their lower social dominance orientation.

Keyword(s)

education social dominance political orientation attitudes scientific ethos

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2014-07-10

Journal title

Journal of Social and Political Psychology

Volume

2

Issue

1

Page numbers

143–163

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Ma-Kellams, C., Ruiz, A. R., Lee, J., & Madu, A. (2014). Not All Education is Equally Liberal: The Effects of Science Education on Political Attitudes. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 143–163. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.259
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Ma-Kellams, Christine
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Ruiz, Aida Rocci
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Lee, Jacqueline
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Madu, Andrea
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-26T12:44:53Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-26T12:44:53Z
  • Date of first publication
    2014-07-10
  • Abstract / Description
    Education stands as a potent predictor of political attitudes; however, the underlying mechanisms and moderators of this relationship are not well-understood. We hypothesize that the liberalizing effect of education is moderated by discipline, and that the scientific ethos that serves to guide empirical inquiries facilitates the development of more liberal political attitudes via concerns about fairness and equality. As predicted, being educated in a science-related discipline, as opposed to a non-science discipline, was associated with greater political liberalism; importantly, this effect could not be accounted for by self-selection (Study 1). Furthermore, concerns about fairness and equality, as captured by an individual’s social dominance orientation, mediated the relationship between studying science and political liberalism (Study 2). Study 3 replicated these findings and attest to their generalizability. Study 4 directly assessed the underlying mechanism, endorsement of the scientific ethos, and replicated the mediational model; those who endorsed the scientific ethos more strongly reported more liberal political attitudes, and this was mediated by their lower social dominance orientation.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Ma-Kellams, C., Ruiz, A. R., Lee, J., & Madu, A. (2014). Not All Education is Equally Liberal: The Effects of Science Education on Political Attitudes. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 143–163. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.259
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2195-3325
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1331
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1724
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.259
  • Keyword(s)
    education
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    social dominance
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    political orientation
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    attitudes
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    scientific ethos
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Not All Education is Equally Liberal: The Effects of Science Education on Political Attitudes
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Journal of Social and Political Psychology
  • Page numbers
    143–163
  • Volume
    2
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record