Tribal Thinking Tribe before truth

We are innately tribal. We strongly need to belong to groups and maintain fulfilling relationships with others. This need to belong warps our reasoning ability. It is known as tribal thinking.

The meaning of the word tribe

In recent years, the word tribe has taken on a broader meaning than the definition you will find in most dictionaries.

Today, it is frequently used to refer to any social group with a strong identity, such as a national, religious, ethnic, or political group.

It is this broader meaning of the word tribe that I am using here.

Sticking to tribal beliefs

One of the many things that hold tribes together is a common set of beliefs. Still, not surprisingly, numerous of these beliefs are false, and they can be remarkably resilient in the face of scientific evidence to the contrary.

Tribal affinity can warp our reasoning – tribal thinking – is one of the many forms of motivated reasoning.

Tribal thinking may seem irrational but think about it for a moment. There is a perfectly rational reason why at times, we put tribal considerations, whether consciously or subconsciously, ahead of logical thought.

Most false beliefs do not result in any direct harm to the individual holding them. They are benign.

It makes little or no difference to you personally whether you believe or not in, say, God, human-made global warming, or evolution. But it makes a massive difference if your belief goes against the dominant thinking of your tribe.

You may be seen as disloyal or even as a traitor. In the past, you may also have put your life may in danger, and today you can quickly be expelled from your social circle or lose your job.

Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake in 1600 in Italy by his own tribe (the Catholic Church) for his beliefs. These included that the earth orbited the sun and that the stars were distant suns surrounded by their own planets, and that these planets might foster life of their own.

It did not matter a jot to anyone whether this was true or not other than his tribe of course and they killed him for his beliefs which turned out to be true.

It is perfectly rational to stick with the beliefs of your tribe despite evidence to the contrary.

Doing so is often not even a conscious one, given that beliefs and tribal allegiance can run deep.

Politically motivated reasoning

Dan Kahan’s study, described in the video and paper below, demonstrates tribal thinking and politically motivated cognition in action.

So convenient a thing to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.

Credit: Benjamin Franklin

It shows how one’s political tribe can distort numerical reasoning ability.

In the study, a group of experimental subjects was first measured on their numerical reasoning abilities and political affiliation – left, right, or center.

The group was then divided into two, and two separate experiments were conducted.

1, Skincare experiment

The first group was given a numerical reasoning problem to solve.

The question was, “do the results of a skin cream trial demonstrate that the skin cream was effective?” The problem had a clear right and a wrong answer.

The group was again divided into two. Half of the group was given data that demonstrated the skin cream made conditions worse, and the other half was given data that showed the skin cream improved conditions.

Unsurprisingly, those who had scored high on the initial numerical reasoning test were more likely to get the answer right in both cases. Those who scored low were more likely to get the answer wrong.

The political leanings of the individuals had no significant impact on the results.

2. Gun-control Experiment

The researchers then conducted a second experiment with the other half of the initial group. This time the question was whether a gun-control initiative in America had been effective.

However, there was a twist; the data provided was precisely the same as in the first experiment. The researchers changed the context of the question.

Once again, they divided the second group into two. The first half was shown data that demonstrated that gun control was effective, and the second half of the group was given data that showed that gun control was not effective.

Unlike the first experiment, people’s political affiliation impacted the results this time.

Those who had scored high on the initial numerical reasoning test did well on this test, but only when the data confirmed their political belief.

If the data did not conform to their political belief, they were just as likely to answer wrong as the low numeracy individuals.

A big surprise

Man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalizing animal.

Credit: Robert Heinlein

Surprisingly, the more numerate the individuals, the more likely they were to answer wrong if the correct answer did not align with their political beliefs.

In other words, people with better numerical reasoning abilities were more prone to letting their political beliefs influence them.

Bottom line

This experiment demonstrates that our political pre-dispositions can strongly influence our numerical reasoning regardless of our political persuasion.

It has been assumed (very reasonably) for many years that enlightened self-government demands a science-literate citizenry.

Perversely, however, recent research has shown that all manner of reasoning proficiency - from cognitive reflection to numeracy, from actively open-minded thinking to science literacy - magnifies political polarization on policy-relevant science.

Credit: Dan Kahan

We are not rational creatures. We are rationalizing ones.

Detailed Resources

• Big Think: Humanity solved the “trust paradox” by going tribal — and paid a horrific price by David R. Samson (2023)

Posts that link to this post

•  Reflections on the Future of Knowledge Management Societal Knowledge Management
•  The Impact of Cognitive Biases in Conversation Cognitive biases can lead to flawed or irrational conclusions in a conversation
•  Introduction: Knowledge Delusion We delude ourselves about what we know and how we make decisions
•  What Are Beliefs? Ideas that are held to be true but not necessarily supported by any evidence
•  We Live in Two Worlds The simple and the complex
•  Converse in Good Faith Be sincere, fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome
•  Collective Sense-making The Knowledge Café is a powerful collective sense-making tool
•  Pollution of the Global Information Ecosystem The contamination of information with false and misleading material

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