Robert MacCoun

Robert MacCoun Explains Why Facts Rarely Change People’s Engrained Beliefs

Miller-McCune, April 20, 2010 by Christie Aschwanden
http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/convincing-the-public-to-accept-new-medical-guidelines-11422/

When facts contradict a strongly held belief, they’re unlikely to be accepted without a fight. “If a researcher produces a finding that confirms what I already believe, then of course it’s correct,” MacCoun says. “Conversely, when we encounter a finding we don’t like, we have a need to explain it away.”

Robert MacCoun Finds News Outlets Favor Sensational Court Trials

Psychology Today, February 21, 2010 by John D. Mayer
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-personality-analyst/201002/libel-in-fact-magazine-instructions-the-jury

Professor MacCoun and others have examined the nature of media coverage of legal issues.  Although they did not study cases of libel in specific, in other areas of the law they found that media reports tend to emphasize trials that are sensational and give rise to controversial verdicts.

Robert MacCoun Reacts to Growing Support for Legalizing Marijuana

-Newsweek, October 15, 2009 by Jessica Bennett
http://www.newsweek.com/id/217942/output/print

“This is a new world,” says Robert MacCoun, a professor of law and public policy at UC Berkeley and the coauthor of Drug War Heresies. “If you’d have asked me four years ago whether we’d be having this debate today, I can’t say I would have predicted it.”

-The Daily Californian, October 21, 2009 by Michael Garcia
http://www.dailycal.org/article/107162/federal_policy_highlights_new_view_of_medical_mari

“This year we’ve seen a shift from stigma to a search for new tax revenues,” said MacCoun. “Two years ago, when the economy was better, nobody was talking about that.”

Robert MacCoun Believes Legalizing Marijuana Will Have Minimal Impact on Use

Mother Jones, July 2009 by Kevin Drum
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/07/patriots-guide-legalization

The most likely conclusion from the overall data is that if you fully legalized cannabis, use would almost certainly go up, but probably not enormously. MacCoun guesses that it might rise by half—say, from around 15 percent of the population to a little more than 20 percent. “It’s not going to triple,” he says. “Most people who want to use marijuana are already finding a way to use marijuana.”

Robert MacCoun Sees Shift in Marijuana Debate

Contra Costa Times, May 12, 2009 by John Simerman
http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_12353484?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

“I’ve never seen a … phone survey that showed more than half of adults favoring legalization. I’ve certainly never seen a governor putting forth the idea of debating the issue, much less an actual bill,” said Robert MacCoun, a UC Berkeley public policy professor. “It’s a comfort zone for politicians we didn’t have 10 years ago.”

Robert MacCoun Finds People Doubts Research When Results Contradict Beliefs

-MSNBC, NBCBayArea.com, February 6, 2009 by John Boitnott
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29017531/from/ET/

“Findings that support our political beliefs are seen as objective facts about the world,” said Robert MacCoun, a Cal professor of public policy, law and psychology. “But study outcomes that conflict with our views are more likely to be seen as expressions of an ideological bias by the researcher…. If we really want to inform citizens and affect public policy, American social scientists need to learn more about how conservatives view our research in order to root out hidden assumptions and communicate our research more effectively.”

-KGO AM 810, Consumer Talk, February 7, 2009 Host Michael Finney
http://www.kgoam810.com/sectional.asp?id=31284

“People find research much more believable when it supports their own point of view. When we find research findings we don’t really like, and we’re reluctant to change our views, we can avoid changing our views by blaming the researcher for being biased.”

-KQED Forum, February 11, 2009 Host Michael Krasny
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R902111000

“When the findings are congenial, we find that people find social science quite credible, and if the study comes out in the direction of people’s own beliefs, they say, “No, that sounds right.” On the other hand, if the finding conflicts with what we know to be their beliefs from questions we’ve asked them, the people start saying, “If the study found this the researcher must be biased in some way.”