It ’s dependable to say that these are divisive times , and public figure will seize any opportunity to catalogue their antagonist ’ fault . But , contrary to pop belief , scientist say noetic humbleness is not the sole property of any one political political party . A written report bring out today in thePersonality and Social Psychology Bulletinfinds that Democrats and Republicans are every bit willing to admit when they ’re wrong , and that the same is rightful for religious and non - religious people .
The report ’s writer define intellectual humbleness as “ acknowledge that a special personal notion may be fallible , accompanied by an appropriate attentiveness to limitations in the evidential basis of that opinion and to one ’s own limitations in obtaining and evaluate relevant information . ”
Now , in plain English : Intellectual humility boil down to openness and flexibility in the face of Modern entropy .
We all wish to imagine we ’re fairish people , and that it ’s the other side that has a problem with the Sojourner Truth . To put this idea to the tryout , researchers carry a serial publication of online studies . They recruited 300 volunteers ( 110 men , 190 women ) between the ages of 18 and 71 , both progressive and bourgeois , religious and non - religious .
One experiment required the volunteers to interpret an essay about religious belief , then rate the writer ’s character . Intellectually rigid people who discord with the content of the essay were more likely to disparage the author ’s morality , satin flower , competency , and warmth . Humbler folks were less probable to judge an generator whose employment conflicted with their belief .
A second challenge tested volunteers ’ ability to sort out facts from fable by read an article about flossing . The results showed that mass with greater intellectual flexibility were , unsurprisingly , better at distinguish the true affirmation .
In another experiment , the military volunteer were postulate whether they ’d vote for a political leader whose views switch over time . Intellectually humble mass from both parties say they ’d still vote for a pass - flopper . Democrats as a whole and intellectually humble Republicans were less likely to criticize politicians for shift their positions .
Lead author Mark Leary of Duke University said the findings are estimable tidings , and that intellectual humility can , and should , be learn .
“ Not being afraid of being wrong — that ’s a value , and I think it is a value we could elevate , ” Leary say in a assertion . “ I consider if everyone was a bit more intellectually low we ’d all get along better , we ’d be less disappointed with each other . ”
