Read on Twitter
Excited to share this! We show that dogmatic beliefs are predicted by how people use their confidence to guide their search for information - out in @PNASNews w/ @M_Rollwage, Ray Dolan and @smfleming ( @WCHN_UCL, @EP_UCL, @MPC_CompPsych). [Thread] 
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2009641117
![Excited to share this! We show that dogmatic beliefs are predicted by how people use their confidence to guide their search for information - out in @PNASNews w/ @M_Rollwage, Ray Dolan and @smfleming ( @WCHN_UCL, @EP_UCL, @MPC_CompPsych). [Thread] https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2009641117](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQqN2iXEAIH3Au.png "Excited to share this! We show that dogmatic beliefs are predicted by how people use their confidence to guide their search for information - out in @PNASNews w/ @M_Rollwage, Ray Dolan and @smfleming ( @WCHN_UCL, @EP_UCL, @MPC_CompPsych). [Thread] https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2009641117")
![Excited to share this! We show that dogmatic beliefs are predicted by how people use their confidence to guide their search for information - out in @PNASNews w/ @M_Rollwage, Ray Dolan and @smfleming ( @WCHN_UCL, @EP_UCL, @MPC_CompPsych). [Thread] https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2009641117](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQqQbiW8AAaGed.png "Excited to share this! We show that dogmatic beliefs are predicted by how people use their confidence to guide their search for information - out in @PNASNews w/ @M_Rollwage, Ray Dolan and @smfleming ( @WCHN_UCL, @EP_UCL, @MPC_CompPsych). [Thread] https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2009641117")
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2009641117
Dogmatic worldviews contribute to the polarization of societal, political and scientific discourse – but the origins of dogmatism remain poorly understood. [2/N]
Anecdotally, dogmatic individuals appear less interested in information that might change their minds. But this could be because people are motivated to stick to a particular opinion, or because they differ in how they make decisions, or both. [3/N]
In our study we focused on the cognitive drivers of dogmatism – asking whether a tendency to be dogmatic is related to changes in how people use confidence to guide simple perceptual decisions that had nothing to do with their personal values. [4/N]
Subjects saw a perceptual stimulus before a first integrated decision and confidence rating. Crucially, they then had to choose if they wanted to see further information before making a final, incentivized decision. This extra information was helpful but came at a cost. [5/N]
![Subjects saw a perceptual stimulus before a first integrated decision and confidence rating. Crucially, they then had to choose if they wanted to see further information before making a final, incentivized decision. This extra information was helpful but came at a cost. [5/N]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQqrDDXcAMZ1WY.jpg "Subjects saw a perceptual stimulus before a first integrated decision and confidence rating. Crucially, they then had to choose if they wanted to see further information before making a final, incentivized decision. This extra information was helpful but came at a cost. [5/N]")
Dogmatism was measured via a factor analysis applied to a set of questionnaires about political attitudes and broader worldviews. Both extremes of the political spectrum showed enhanced dogmatism scores, which were most pronounced on the far right. [6/N]
![Dogmatism was measured via a factor analysis applied to a set of questionnaires about political attitudes and broader worldviews. Both extremes of the political spectrum showed enhanced dogmatism scores, which were most pronounced on the far right. [6/N]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQq1RiXMAICX9L.jpg "Dogmatism was measured via a factor analysis applied to a set of questionnaires about political attitudes and broader worldviews. Both extremes of the political spectrum showed enhanced dogmatism scores, which were most pronounced on the far right. [6/N]")
A first key finding was that more dogmatic participants sought out less additional information in our task, both in an exploratory (N = 370) and in a replication sample (N= 364). [7/N]
![A first key finding was that more dogmatic participants sought out less additional information in our task, both in an exploratory (N = 370) and in a replication sample (N= 364). [7/N]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQq8d7XUAAFel_.jpg "A first key finding was that more dogmatic participants sought out less additional information in our task, both in an exploratory (N = 370) and in a replication sample (N= 364). [7/N]")
Given the absence of external feedback in this task, participants could only rely on their internal sense of confidence to make the information-seeking decision – which they did: [8/N]
![Given the absence of external feedback in this task, participants could only rely on their internal sense of confidence to make the information-seeking decision – which they did: [8/N]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQrGESXMAM1sta.jpg "Given the absence of external feedback in this task, participants could only rely on their internal sense of confidence to make the information-seeking decision – which they did: [8/N]")
Trial-by-trial modeling showed that dogmatism was associated with a reduction in this coupling between confidence and search. As a result, more dogmatic participants were less likely to act on feelings of low confidence when deciding whether to seek out new information. [9/N]
![Trial-by-trial modeling showed that dogmatism was associated with a reduction in this coupling between confidence and search. As a result, more dogmatic participants were less likely to act on feelings of low confidence when deciding whether to seek out new information. [9/N]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnQrMVAXMAMf5x3.jpg "Trial-by-trial modeling showed that dogmatism was associated with a reduction in this coupling between confidence and search. As a result, more dogmatic participants were less likely to act on feelings of low confidence when deciding whether to seek out new information. [9/N]")
The association between dogmatism and information seeking in a simple perceptual task suggests that dogmatism is not just a feature of specific groups or opinions but may be associated with a particular, domain-general, way of making decisions. [10/N]
Our results also suggest that attempts to improve or boost metacognition (i.e., how we form and use confidence estimates, e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30596440/ ) might have widespread benefits for promoting open-mindedness about a range of issues. [11/N]
More broadly, our results raise the issue that simply offering a correction to misinformation at a later point may not be enough to stop more dogmatic individuals from forming inaccurate beliefs - because they might fail to check a reliable source. [12/N]
