Adult attachment style and beliefs about public affairs and scientific issues

Abstract

As political polarization has rapidly increased since the 1970s in the United States, controversies about the facts of public affairs and scientific issues have also intensified. Disagreements occur especially between the most educated Democrats and the most educated Republicans. Concepts relevant to a relational variable that helps to explain differences in cognitive development in children, called attachment style, may illuminate differences in beliefs of adults about public affairs issues. National general population surveys were conducted online in 2013 and 2014, containing an adult attachment style self-report instrument with questions on beliefs about a number of public affairs topics. While several studies examine adult attachment and political ideology or partisanship, this paper is among the first to focus on adult attachment and specific contested political and scientific beliefs. The findings suggest that adult attachment styles may partly explain why belief gaps develop between more and less advantaged groups.

Keywords

• adult attachment style
• political beliefs
• belief gap
• partisanship
• religiosity
• media trust