Ideological conservatives are definitely anti-science in many respects. The initial doubt I have with the studies, however, is that it appears that ideological lefties are also anti-science in many respects. It generally depends on the issue.
From the article, the "data" presented to the participants was -- "data on three topics: the justness of the world, the efficacy of social safety nets and the benefits of social media." These are social science issues, not hard science. So, that's one issue to be mindful of here. Data on "the justness of the world?" That data is all over the map, and depends on what one's view of "justice" is.
"Tullett found that conservatives were less interested in viewing empirical data than liberals in all three studies." Really? What a shocker. And, what if one of the issues was "data regarding genetic differences between races on IQ tests?" Or, the efficacy of vaccines or whether they cause autism?
And, the article states - "Moreover, conservatives were more skeptical about the value of science compared with liberals." The value of "science" or the value of "social science?"
"Take an issue like gun control: If you were to present people with the issue of gun control, and have anecdotal accounts, expert opinion and scientific studies, our data suggest that liberals would be more likely to care about the scientific study than conservatives. -- wouldn't that depend on how the data came down? Liberals are generally all over science which backs up their ideology, and conservatives are all over science that backs up their ideology. Conservatives tend to hand-wave gun control "science" away because (a) it doesn't fit their ideology, and (b) they see the science as suspect and designed to serve an opposing ideology. That kind of attitude toward "science" is not, however, unique to conservatives. It's what humans tend to do.
"But empirical data, Tullett said, is theoretically the most neutral type of information available; objectivity is one of the main goals of the scientific method." Yes, empirical data is among the most objective. But what sort of "empirical" data is available to prove or disprove "the justness of the world?" Are you going to measure conviction rates for crime? Evaluate the punishments for fairness? On what standard? Is there an empirical dataset on the quality of "justice?"
And, here she becomes disingenuous, I think -- “In a context where defensiveness should not be a factor – you’re just being told there’s information relevant to an issue you care about – I didn’t necessarily anticipate that political orientation would be a factor,” - really? You have issues like "justness of the world," "social safety nets" and "benefits of social media" and you don't think a self-identifying "conservative" is going to think they see where this is headed? Conservatives aren't interested in the information on the "justness of the world" because they don't think the information can be reliable or change their mind. What information is there going to be on that topic? Some stat that one race has less financial means than another race, taken collectively? A conservative doesn't necessarily view that as unjust anyway.
"It just seems that they are less optimistic than liberals about how much scientific data can teach us." How about pick issues on which liberals tend to be averse to what the data says, and there are those issues. Maybe "The need for GMO's in food or the efficacy of GMOs." Or, as above, the genetic difference between races/sexes in IQ.
I've heard left leaning folks and self-avowed liberals ask "what are you going to do with that data?" Or words to that effect - relative to IQ information.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_an ... grets.html
“When I was in college, I took a terrorism class. ... The thing that was interesting in the class was every time the professor said ‘Al Qaeda’ his shoulders went up, But you know, it is that you don’t say ‘America’ with an intensity, you don’t say ‘England’ with the intensity. You don’t say ‘the army’ with the intensity,” she continued. “... But you say these names [Al Qaeda] because you want that word to carry weight. You want it to be something.” - Ilhan Omar