Motivated ignorance and social identity threat: the case of the Flat Earth

IF 0.7 Q3 ETHNIC STUDIES Social Identities Pub Date : 2023-01-02 DOI:10.1080/13504630.2023.2208033
Ians . Jones, A. Adams, J. Mayoh
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Belief in a conspiracy theory may, for some, provide a social identity. Because of the nature of many conspiracy theories, social identities associated with such beliefs may be subject to varied and considerable threats. Whilst various mechanisms for dealing with social identity threat have received widespread attention, this paper introduces an as yet unexplored strategy – that of ‘motivated ignorance' – as a further mechanism for social identity maintenance. This is a behavior where individuals actively avoid freely available and accessible information in order to protect a social identity from information that may be harmful to the existence of the broader social group, and thus the individual’s own sense of self. Using a netnographic approach, we explored motivated ignorance related to the social identities formed around beliefs in the Flat Earth. Data revealed two categories of motivated ignorance. Firstly, that of ‘poisoning the well', where ignorance was justified by derogating the perceived epistemic quality of the information. The second was more instrumental, through ad hominem attacks on the source rather than the epistemic quality of information. The study suggests that motivated ignorance may be used as a strategy that may be used to protect social identities that are under threat, adding a further mechanism to the literature on coping with social identity threat.
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动机性无知与社会身份威胁:以“平地”为例
对一些人来说,相信阴谋论可能会提供一种社会认同。由于许多阴谋论的性质,与这些信仰相关的社会身份可能会受到各种各样的相当大的威胁。虽然应对社会身份威胁的各种机制受到了广泛关注,但本文介绍了一种尚未探索的策略——“动机无知”——作为社会身份维护的进一步机制。这是一种行为,个人积极避免自由获得和可访问的信息,以保护社会身份不受可能损害更广泛社会群体存在的信息的影响,从而损害个人自身的自我意识。使用网络地图的方法,我们探索了与在平坦的地球上围绕信仰形成的社会身份相关的动机性无知。数据揭示了两类出于动机的无知。首先,这是“毒害井”,通过贬损信息的认知质量来证明无知是正当的。第二种更具工具性,通过对信息来源的人身攻击,而不是对信息的认识质量的攻击。这项研究表明,出于动机的无知可能被用作一种策略,可以用来保护受到威胁的社会身份,为应对社会身份威胁的文献增添了进一步的机制。
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来源期刊
Social Identities
Social Identities ETHNIC STUDIES-
CiteScore
2.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
22
期刊介绍: Recent years have witnessed considerable worldwide changes concerning social identities such as race, nation and ethnicity, as well as the emergence of new forms of racism and nationalism as discriminatory exclusions. Social Identities aims to furnish an interdisciplinary and international focal point for theorizing issues at the interface of social identities. The journal is especially concerned to address these issues in the context of the transforming political economies and cultures of postmodern and postcolonial conditions. Social Identities is intended as a forum for contesting ideas and debates concerning the formations of, and transformations in, socially significant identities, their attendant forms of material exclusion and power.
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