Considering the Role of “Need for Cognition” in Students’ Acceptance of Climate Change &amp; Evolution

Kudrna, Jeremy; Shore, Marta Dykhuizen; Wassenberg, Deena

doi:10.1525/abt.2015.77.4.4

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Consistent with this notion, individuals high in need for cognition consume more news than others (Hallahan, ). Individuals high in need for cognition are also more likely to accept publicly controversial, but scientifically supported, ideas—such as the existence of climate change and evolution (Kudrna, Shore, & Wassenberg, ). They are also less likely to endorse stereotypes based on gender/sex and race/ethnicity and to rely on such stereotypes when making judgments about others (Carter, Hall, Carney, & Rosip, ).…”

Section: Cognitive Styles and Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a Developmental Science of Politics

Patterson

Bigler

Pahlke

et al. 2019

Monographs Society Res Child

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In this monograph, we argue for the establishment of a developmental science of politics that describes, explains, and predicts the formation and change of individuals’ political knowledge, attitudes, and behavior beginning in childhood and continuing across the life course. Reflecting our goal of contributing both theoretical conceptualizations and empirical data, we have organized the monograph into two broad sections. In the first section, we outline theoretical contributions that the study of politics may make to developmental science and provide practical reasons that empirical research in the domain of politics is important (e.g., for identifying ways to improve civics education and for encouraging higher voting rates among young adults). We also review major historical approaches to the study of political development and provide an integrative theoretical framework to ground future work. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model as an organizing scheme and emphasizing social justice issues, we describe how factors rooted in cultural contexts, families, and children themselves are likely to shape political development. In the second section of the monograph, we argue for the importance and utility of studying major political events, such as presidential elections, and introduce the major themes, rationales, and hypotheses for a study of U.S. children's views of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In addition, we apply a social‐justice lens to political thought and participation, addressing the role of gender/sex and race/ethnicity in children's political development broadly, and in their knowledge and views of the 2016 U.S. presidential election specifically. In interviews conducted within the month before and after the election, we examined two overarching categories of children's political attitudes: (a) knowledge, preferences, and expectations about the 2016 election, and (b) knowledge and attitudes concerning gender/sex and politics, particularly relevant for the 2016 election given Hillary Clinton's role as the first female major‐party candidate for the presidency. Participants were 187 children (101 girls) between 5 and 11 years of age (M = 8.42 years, SD = 1.45 years). They were recruited from schools and youth organizations in five counties in four U.S. states (Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, and Washington) with varying voting patterns (e.g., Trump voters ranged from 27% to 71% of county voters). The sample was not a nationally representative one, but was racially diverse (35 African American, 50 Latinx, 81 White, and 21 multiracial, Asian American, Middle Eastern, or Native American children). In addition to several child characteristics (e.g., age, social dominance orientation [SDO]), we assessed several family and community characteristics (e.g., child‐reported parental interest in the election and government‐reported county‐level voting patterns, respectively) hypothesized to predict outcome variables. Although our findings are shaped by the nature of our sample (e.g., our partici...

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Section: Cognitive Styles and Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a Developmental Science of Politics

Patterson

Bigler

Pahlke

et al. 2019

Monographs Society Res Child

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“…Several factors are known to correlate with acceptance of evolution, including being an analytic thinker (Gervais, 2015), having high "need for cognition" (Kudrna, Shore, & Wassenberg, 2015), and being taught evolution but not creationism in high school (Moore & Cotner, 2009). Other factors correlate with denial of evolution, such as religious belief (Gervais, 2015;National Center for Science Education, 2010;Moore & Cotner, 2009;Rissler, Duncan, & Caruso, 2014) and political conservatism (Cotner, Brooks, & Moore, 2014).…”

Section: Acceptance Of Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Determines Student Acceptance of Politically Controversial Scientific Conclusions?

Walker¹,

Cotner

Wassenberg

et al. 2017

Journal of College Science Teaching

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“…When students exhibited a need for cognition (NFC), or a preference to engage and enjoy thinking processes, a positive correlation existed with their acceptance of anthropogenic climate change (Kudrna et al, 2015). Instruction that included critical evaluation of anthropogenic climate change resulted in middle school students' significant shifts in plausibility judgments toward the scientifically accepted model (Lombardi et al, 2013), while development of critical science agency affected urban high school students' climate literacy with a significant increase in conceptual understanding, and a change within the student majority to limit their personal impact (McNeill and Vaughn, 2012).…”

Section: Geoscience Education: Climate Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%