Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth

by Stuart Ritchie

A 2015 piece by José Duarte and several other prominent psychologists argued that, partly for this reason, political bias could be particularly damaging for psychology.98 They posited that, similarly to the example of groupthink we just encountered, if the vast majority of a community shares a political perspective, the important function of peer review – to hold claims to the harshest scrutiny possible – is substantially weakened. Not only that, but priorities for what to research in the first place might become skewed: scientists might pay disproportionate attention to some politically acceptable topics, even if they’re backed by relatively weak evidence, and avoid those that go against a particular narrative, even if they’re based on solid data.