Hovland measured whether soldiers in training could answer a set of questions both before and after watching the films. To test changes in their opinions, Hovland asked Stauffer to compare attitudes of film watchers with themselves. They found that Capra's films did a fantastic job of teaching soldiers the facts. But when it came to their opinions, the answers they gave before watched the films remained nearly identical to those they gave after. In fact, most changes in opinion barely broke a percentage point of change.
In 2017, YANSS did three episodes about the backfire effect, and by far, those episodes were the most popular that year. Then, in 2018, part four was the most popular.
The backfire effect has his special allure to it, because, on the surface, it seems to explain something we’ve all experienced -- when we argue with people who believe differently than us, who see the world through a different ideological lens -- they often resist our views, refuse to accept our way of seeing things, and it often seems like we do more harm than good, because they walk away seemingly more entrenched in their beliefs than before the argument began.
But…since those first three shows, researchers have produced a series new studies into the backfire effect that complicate things. Yes, we are observing something here, and yes we are calling it the backfire effect, but everything is not exactly as it seems, and so I thought we should invite these new researchers on the show and add a fourth episode to the backfire effect series based on what they’ve found. And this is that episode (again).
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