Not All Education is Equally Liberal: The Effects of Science Education on Political Attitudes

Abstract: Education stands as a potent predictor of political attitudes; however, the underlying mechanisms and moderators of this relationship are not well-understood. We hypothesize that the liberalizing effect of education is moderated by discipline, and that the scientific ethos that serves to guide empirical inquiries facilitates the development of more liberal political attitudes via concerns about fairness and equality. As predicted, being educated in a science-related discipline, as opposed to a non-science discipline, was associated with greater political liberalism; importantly, this effect could not be accounted for by self-selection (Study 1). Furthermore, concerns about fairness and equality, as captured by an individual’s social dominance orientation, mediated the relationship between studying science and political liberalism (Study 2). Study 3 replicated these findings and attest to their generalizability. Study 4 directly assessed the underlying mechanism, endorsement of the .... https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/4781

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Not All Education is Equally Liberal: The Effects of Science Education on Political Attitudes ; volume:2 ; number:1 ; day:10 ; month:07 ; year:2014 ; Journal of social and political psychology ; 2, Heft 1 (10.07.2014)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Ma-Kellams, Christine ; Ruiz, Aida Rocci ; Lee, Jacqueline ; Madu, Andrea

Further information

• DOI: 10.5964/jspp.v2i1.259
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2021032004460118112469
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:36 AM CEST