Reducing Group Alignment in Factual Disputes? The Limited Effects of Social Identity Interventions

Abstract

Public divisions over contested science often arise due to individuals’ motivation to hold beliefs in line with others with whom they share a common social identity. To reduce the influence of threatened group identities, this research tests two potential interventions at the point of exposure to new information: self-affirmation and multiple identity salience manipulation. Experiments across dispute contexts—a toxic mining spill, a biofuels mandate, and gene editing technology—show limited support for either intervention reducing group alignment. Together, these results contribute to a growing body of work illuminating the limits of social identity interventions.