advance on-line publication at doi: 10.1080/13669877.2010.511246

Why do members of the public disagree—sharply and persistently—about facts on which expert scientists largely agree? We designed a study to test a distinctive explanation: the cultural cognition of scientific consensus. The “cultural cognition of risk ” refers to the tendency of individuals to form risk perceptions that are congenial to their values. The study presents both correlational and experimental evi-dence confirming that cultural cognition shapes individuals ’ beliefs about the existence of scientific con-sensus, and the process by which they form such beliefs, relating to climate change, the disposal of nuc-lear wastes, and the effect of permitting concealed possession of handguns. The implications of this dy-namic for science communication and public policy-making are discussed