Ideological Bias in Social Psychological Research

Abstract

“Getting it right” is the sine qua non of science (Funder et al., 2013 ). Science can tolerate individual mistakes and fl awed theories, but only if it has reliable mechanisms for correction. Unfortunately, science is not always selfcorrecting (e.g., Ioannidis, 2012 ; MacCoun, 1998 ; Nickerson, 1998 ). Equally unfortunately, although the potential political distortion of psychology has been recognized for some time (MacCoun, 1998 ; Redding, 2001 ; Tetlock, 1994 ), calls for corrective action have gone largely unheeded. This chapter reviews and critically evaluates the evidence suggesting that: (1) liberals are disproportionately represented in social psychology; (2) pernicious factors (hostile environment, discrimination) contribute to that disproportion; (3) conclusions in political social psychology are consistently biased in ways that fl atter liberals. We also identify possible solutions to the problems of political bias in social psychology.