Working in conjunction with the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, the Cultural Cognition Project is conducting an empirical investigation of how cultural cognition influences perceptions of the desirability, efficacy, and importance of public financing of political campaigns. "Cultural Cognition" refers to a set of psychological mechanisms that motivate individuals to fit their beliefs about policy-consequential facts to their preferred visions of the ideal society. Concepts and methods featureing cultural cognition have been used to understand public disagreements over myriad issues, from gun control to climate change. In the research being sponsored by the Center, investigators are testing hypotheses about the impact of cultural outlooks on perceptions of the desirability and efficacy of campaign financing regimes. The goal of the research is to develop guidelines and strategies for promoting attentive and open-minded consideration of information relating to campaign financing by persons of diverse world views.
Resources
- Jones, Michael D., and Mark K. McBeth. 2010. "A Narrative Policy Framework: Clear Enough to be Wrong?" Policy Studies Journal, 38 (2): 329-353.
- Kahan, Dan. Forthcoming. Cultural Cognition as a Conception of the Cultural Theory of Risk. In Handbook of Risk Theory, ed. S. Roeser.
- Shanahan, Elizabeth, Michael D. Jones, and Mark K. McBeth. Forthcoming. "Policy Narratives and Policy Processes." Policy Studies Journal, 39 (3): (Forthcoming, August/September, 2011).
- Cultural Cognition Project
Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevharb/5314268567/\