heterodox: the blog
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+ Research SummaryApplying the Theory of Affective Intelligence to Support for Authoritarian Policies and Parties
The idea that fear drives right-wing political attitudes and support for right-wing politicians has largely become accepted as a truism among many scholars (e.g., Altemeyer 1996; Jost et al. 2003; 2017; Robin 2004; Wilson 1973) and pundits…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart
Over the past 25 years the partisanship of the American electorate has increased (see e.g., here, here, and here), and concern about how this increased partisanship may impact American democracy is now prevalent (see e.g., here, here,…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryDoes Intolerance Dampen Dissent? Macro-Tolerance and Protest in American Metropolitan Areas
In recent years a debate over free expression, open inquiry and academic freedom has been ongoing, particularly in the United States. At least two arguments are frequently made, often in opposition to each other. One contends that it is…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryLiberalism and Conservatism, for a Change! Rethinking the Association Between Political Orientation…
The idea that in all societies there are some people who seek to preserve stability, conserve the status quo, and prefer incremental change, and others who are more accepting of social change innovation and reform has a long history of acceptance in…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryIntolerance and Repression in the United States a Half-Century After McCarthyism
How intolerant is the American public? Is the average citizen likely to “put up” with the expression of viewpoints and beliefs they find offensive, odious, and hateful? Unfortunately, according to a long tradition of research in political…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryPartisan Dehumanization in American Politics
Over the past decade, concern over how extremist political communities can employ social media to promote their views and incite violence has increased. The Dangerous Speech Project defines dangerous speech as “any form of expression (e.g.,…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryHidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape
The international initiative More in Common, in collaboration with Purpose and YouGov, recently released an extensive report on the state of civic life among the American electorate. Reviewing research on how contemporary Americans perceive the…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryWillingness to Self-Censor: A Construct and Measurement Tool for Public Opinion Research
One of the key tenets of life in a democracy is the ability to freely express one’s ideas without fear of government retribution (see e.g., Habermas, 1989; Hollander, 1975; see also, e.g., the Bill of Rights in the United States,…read the full blog
+ Research SummarySilencing Fellow Citizens: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Validation of a Scale for Measuring…
A spate of recent publications have focused on the construct of self-censorship (e.g., here, here, and here), extending and expanding the work of Andrew Hayes and his colleagues (e.g., here, here, and here). New research by Yariv Tsfati and…read the full blog
+ Book SummaryThe Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for…
The origin of The Coddling of the American Mind occurred over lunch in May of 2014, with Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in attendance. Lukianoff had asked Haidt to help him make sense of a puzzle he had noticed emerging over the past year or…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryEducation is Related to Greater Ideological Prejudice
Everyone knows that education makes people more tolerant, right? Well, yes, if you focus on the traditional targets of intolerance that are generally studied in the social sciences, such as members of ethnic, racial, or religious outgroups. A college…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Skeptics are Wrong Part 3: Political Intolerance Levels on Campus are High, and Here is Why
Abstract: A series of essays published in March argued that American college students are just as supportive of free speech as they have ever been, so there is no “free speech crisis” on American college campuses. In this essay we show that this…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryRace and the Race for the White House: On Social Research in the Age of Trump
Al-Gharbi argues that when research disparages Trump and his supporters on weak evidentiary grounds, the credibility and viability of the broader social research enterprise is called into question as well. Many on the right already view the…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThat’s Not Funny: Instrument Validation of the Concern for Political Correctness Scale
The research summarized below by Strauts and Blanton (2015), documents the development of their concern for political correctness scale, as well as two studies validating the predictive utility of that scale. Briefly, Strauts and Blanton (2015)…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Skeptics Are Wrong Part 2: Speech Culture on Campus is Changing
In this essay we show that the skeptics went wrong by basing their case primarily on GSS data about members of the Millennial generation. We explain why the debate hinges not on Millennials but on the generation after them––iGen, or Gen Z, who…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Skeptics are Wrong Part 1: Attitudes About Free Speech On Campus are Changing
Abstract: Recent essays by Jeffrey Sachs and Matt Yglesias have asserted that widespread concerns about free speech on American college campuses are essentially a moral panic with no basis in fact. In this blog post, we show that such skepticism is…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryIntellectual Humility and Openness to the Opposing View
The results of Porter and Schumann (2017) have direct relevance for Heterodox Academy and the OpenMind Platform. One of our hypotheses regarding the OpenMind Platform is that it can increase intellectual humility and openness, and that these…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryCaught in the Nexus: A Comparative and Longitudinal Analysis of Public Trust in the Press
These findings suggest political systems that lack ideological diversity are at risk for widespread declines in trust of long-standing societal institutions, including, but not limited to, the press. At first blush, these findings do not seem…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Polarizing Effects of Online Partisan Criticism: Evidence from Two Experiments
We conclude that online partisan criticism likely has contributed to rising affective and social polarization in recent years between Democrats and Republicans in the United States, and perhaps between partisan and ideological group members in other…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Wisdom of Polarized Crowds
The founding of Heterodox Academy had roots in a collaboration between five social psychologists and one sociologist that produced a featured paper, and 33 responses to it, in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. A number of specific recommendations to…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Campus Expression Survey: Summary of New Data
Back in July, I presented some preliminary data from our Campus Expression Survey (CES). The CES was developed by members1 of Heterodox Academy in response to students and professors who say they feel like they are “walking on…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryHiring in Higher Ed: Do Job Ads Signal a Desire for Viewpoint Diversity?
This is the second in a two-part post about the policies and practices of colleges and universities vis a vis ideological non-discrimination and inclusivity. In this post, we examine current job ads for direct evidence that hiring campuses seek out…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryNon-Discrimination Statements at the Institution Level & What to Do About It
This is the first in a two-part post about the policies and practices of colleges and universities vis a vis ideological non-discrimination and inclusivity. In this post, we examine the non-discrimination statements of the schools featured in our…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Greater Male Variability Hypothesis – An Addendum to our post on the Google Memo
In this addendum we focus on the Greater Male Variability Hypothesis - the idea that men are more variable than women on a variety of abilities, interests, and personality traits - and the possibility that males are overrepresented in the upper and…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Google Memo: What Does the Research Say About Gender Differences?
The recent Google Memo on diversity, and the immediate firing of its author, James Damore, have raised a number of questions relevant to the mission of Heterodox Academy. Large corporations deal with many of the same issues that we wrestle with at…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Fearless Speech Index: Who is afraid to speak, and why?
Norms about speech seem to be changing rapidly on many college campuses. Universities are offering or requiring training in recognizing “microaggressions,” and they are creating “bias response teams” to make it easy for students to report…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryEthnic Tolerance Does Not Equal Political Tolerance
New research indicates that the ethnically tolerant can be intolerant of those who do not share their values and social goals.read the full blog
+ Research SummaryDogmatic Intolerance on the Left and Right
Since the publication of The Authoritarian Personality, political psychologists have debated how ideology and cognitive style are associated and how this association influences political tolerance and open-mindedness. One approach – the…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Legal Academy’s Ideological Uniformity
Recent research by Adam Bonica, Adam Chilton, Kyle Rozema, and Maya Sen has further explored the ideological makeup of the legal academy and compares it to the legal profession outside academia. Consistent with Rosenkranz and Langbert et al., Bonica…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryFaculty Voter Registration in Economics, History, Journalism, Law, and Psychology
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+ Essay (Opinion Piece)Free Speech is the Most Effective Antidote to Hate Speech
On December 6th, Texas A&M University will play host to Richard Spencer, a leader of the “alt-right” movement, and an open white supremacist. Many will likely view Spencer’s presence at Texas A & M as confirmation that Donald Trump’s election…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Heterodox Academy Guide to Colleges: Starting A Methodological Discussion
A week ago Heterodox Academy released the preliminary version of our Guide to Colleges– a unique resource that ranks the top 150 schools as listed by US News and World Report on whether the intellectual climate on campus is free, open, and…read the full blog
+ Research SummaryThe Liberal and Conservative Experience Across Academic Disciplines: An Extension of Inbar and…
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+ Book SummaryAcademic Freedom in an Age of Conformity: Confronting the Fear of Knowledge
A new book by education professor Joanna Williams explores how changing ideas about the purpose of a university have altered the concept of academic freedom and provided a foundation for student censorship in the U.K. The book is called Academic…read the full blog
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