Identity and Epistemic Emotions During Knowledge Revision: A Potential Account for the Backfire Effect

Abstract

Recent research has shown that for some topics, messages to refute and revise misconceptions may backfire. The current research offers one possible account for this backfire effect (i.e., the ironic strengthening of belief in erroneous information after an attempted refutation) from an educational psychology perspective and examines whether emotions mediate the relationship between self-concept and learning from refutation texts. In an experimental design, 120 undergraduate students responded to a questionnaire focused on their dietary self-concept and were randomly assigned to read an expository or refutation text on the topic of genetically modified foods. Immediately after reading, participants self-reported their emotions followed by completing post-test measures of their knowledge and attitudes of the topic. Results showed an interaction between self-concept and text condition on emotions wherein self-concept predicted negative emotions (i.e., confusion, anxiety, frustration) while reading a refutation text specifically. Further, negative emotions significantly mediated relations between self-concept and post-test knowledge and attitudes. Implications for educational design and future research are discussed.

Awe and Epistemology in a Science Museum

“…Stated differently, awe is an epistemic emotion (Silvia, 2008;Valdesolo, Park, & Gottlieb, 2016), evoked by knowledge tasks and knowledge-generating activities (Trevors, Muis, Pekrun, Sinatra, & Winne, 2016). Epistemic emotions and related affect can instigate and stabilize learning in science (Jaber & Hammer, 2016a;Jaber & Hammer, 2016b), and include not only awe, but also emotions such as interest, curiosity, confusion, and surprise.…”

“…Museums offer a rare opportunity to measure the impact of naturalistic awe. In epistemic emotion research in general, researchers have noted the differences between emotions induced experimentally or occurring naturally, suggesting they might lead to differing outcomes (Trevors et al, 2016;Makin, 2017). In museums, guests are presented with awe-inspiring stimuli as part of the very design of the experience.…”

Not wallowing in misery – retractions of negative misinformation are effective in depressive rumination

“…For example, politically conservative participants have been found to show particularly strong CIEs if the misinformation is congruent with their worldview, such as misinformation that comes from conservative politicians (Nyhan & Reifler, 2010) or misinformation regarding misconduct in liberal politicians (Ecker & L. C. Ang, 2018). Thus, in the presence of relevant worldviews, at least part of the observed ineffectiveness of retractions can be attributed to motivated dismissal of retractions that serves to uphold attitudes and beliefs (Ecker, Swire, & Lewandowsky, 2014;Kunda, 1990) similar to a disconfirmation bias (Taber & Lodge, 2006;Trevors, Muis, Pekrun, Sinatra, & Winne, 2016). In other words, there is evidence that people tend to "cling" to misinformation that supports their worldviews.…”

Adolescents’ epistemic profiles in the service of knowledge revision

“…A recent trend in the extant literature has been to gain deeper insights into how refutation texts fit into broader theories of comprehension (Dumas, Alexander, & Grossnickle, 2013) and how their beneficial effects can be enhanced and extended to all learners (Authors, 2016;Poehnl & Bogner, 2013;Trevors, Muis, Pekrun, Sinatra, & Winne, 2016). To this end, researchers have studied the interactions between refutation texts and the characteristics of the individuals reading them (Cordova, Sinatra, Jones, Taasoobshirazi, & Lombardi, 2014;Kendeou, Muis, & Fulton, 2011;McCrudden & Kendeou, 2014).…”