NCBI ROFL: You are not one of us; ergo, your argument is invalid.
[Via Discoblog]
Have you ever witnessed a creationist and an atheist having a fight? If so, you’ve likely seen firsthand the subject of this paper: what happens when a member of a group (e.g., a creationist) is criticized by a non-member (e.g., an atheist). It has now been scientifically proven that no matter how logical the arguments of the non-group member are, they will probably be rejected. Even the authors describe their results as depressing.
Shooting the messenger: Outsiders critical of your group are rejected regardless of argument quality.
“People are more resistant to criticisms of their group when those criticisms are made by an outgroup rather than an ingroup member, a phenomenon referred to as the intergroup sensitivity effect (ISE). The current study compared four competing models of how argument quality would moderate the ISE, with a view to establishing the complex interrelationships between source and message effects in group-directed criticism.Quality of the argument affected responses to ingroup critics, but not to outgroup critics. For outsiders who wish to promote positive change and reform in a group culture, this leads to a somewhat depressing conclusion: their message is likely to be rejected regardless of whether it is objectively ‘right’, well-considered, well-justified, or well-argued.”
[More]
More data indicating that humans do not listen to outgroup arguments. So we need to find ways to be in each others ingroup.
