Bridging the gap: Introducing a socio-cultural dimension to explain beliefs about man-made threats

The belief gap hypothesis focuses on why individuals differ in beliefs about the causes and consequences of issues despite expert consensus. Offering ideological rationalization and media use as an explanation for diverting beliefs, it, so far, has focused on ideological priors that describe traditi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public understanding of science (Bristol, England) England), 2022-11, Vol.31 (8), p.1063-1078
Main Authors: Glogger, Isabella, Shehata, Adam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Infective Agents
Antimicrobial resistance
belief gap hypothesis
Climate Change
Communication Studies
Contrast media
Cultural factors
Humans
Hypotheses
Ideology
Kommunikationsvetenskap
Mass media effects
Media and Communications
media use
Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap
Rationalization
Resistance
socio-cultural dimension of ideology
Threats
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Summary:The belief gap hypothesis focuses on why individuals differ in beliefs about the causes and consequences of issues despite expert consensus. Offering ideological rationalization and media use as an explanation for diverting beliefs, it, so far, has focused on ideological priors that describe traditional socio-economic cleavages—even if scientific and environmental issues go beyond monetary questions. In this study, we aim to counter this shortcoming by introducing a socio-cultural dimension of ideology to research on the belief gap hypothesis. Comparing two issues of man-made threats—climate change and antimicrobial resistance—and emphasizing more strongly the role of media use for belief gaps, we find that a socio-cultural dimension of ideology serves as a better predictor for diverting beliefs about climate change but not for antimicrobial resistance. In contrast to left-leaning media, using right-leaning media outlets widens climate change belief gaps.
ISSN:0963-6625
1361-6609
1361-6609
DOI:10.1177/09636625221095723