Seeing What You Believe

Abstract: Introduction: Political ideology can shape how individuals evaluate information, including scientific research. Aim: This preregistered study examined whether psychology undergraduates ( N = 723) evaluated research credibility based on political alignment and methodological quality. Methods: Using a 2 (Political leaning of findings: left-leaning vs. right-leaning) × 2 (Methodological quality: high vs. low) between-subjects design, participants rated the credibility of fictional study summaries. Results: Results showed that psychology students were significantly more left-leaning than a representative sample of young adults and rated politically congruent research as more credible, indicating confirmation bias. However, methodological rigor remained a strong and consistent predictor of perceived credibility, and no three-way interaction emerged between participant ideology, political alignment, and methodological quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that, although political biases in scientific evaluation exist, critical engagement with research methods remains a strong predictor of credibility. Future research should examine whether this holds true for other groups.