Browsing by Author "Yilmaz, O."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Citation - Scopus: 10
Actively open- minded thinking and the political effects of its absence
(Oxford University Press, 2023) Baron, J.; Isler, O.; Yilmaz, O.
[No abstract available]
Citation - WoS: 0
Cognitive Reflection and Religious Belief: a Test of Two Models
(Society for Judgment and Decision making, 2025) Şeker, F.; Acem, E.; Bayrak, F.; Dogruyol, B.; Isler, O.; Bahçekapili, H.G.; Yilmaz, O.
Existing research suggests a negative correlation between reflective thinking and religious belief. The dual process model (DPM) posits that reflection diminishes religious belief by limiting intuitive decisions. In contrast, the expressive rationality model (ERM) argues that reflection serves an identity-protective function by bolstering rather than modifying preexisting beliefs. Although the current literature tends to favor the DPM, many studies suffer from unbalanced samples. To avoid this limitation, we recruited comparably large number of participants for both religious believers (n = 580) and non-believers (n = 594) and observed the relationship between reflection and two measures of religious belief: belief in God and disbelief in evolution. Our findings corroborate the negative associations found between higher levels of reflection and both types of belief, independent of religious affiliation. Our results align with the broader literature, supporting the DPM but not the ERM. © The Author(s), 2025.
Citation - Scopus: 1
Reflection and Intuition in a Crisis- Ridden World: Thinking Hard or Hardly Thinking?
(Taylor and Francis, 2024) Saribay, S.A.; Yilmaz, O.
This book provides a definitive guide to the value of reflective thinking in the modern world, showing how today’s most fundamental problems are, to an important degree, based on citizens’ thinking styles. The authors highlight the importance of reflection by systematically revealing the causes underlying differences in people’s thinking styles and the consequences of thinking in different ways. These different ways of thinking contribute to socio-political views, and can result in misunderstandings of complex issues such as beliefs in conspiracy theories and fake news, anti-vaccine attitudes, and even fundamentalism and extremism. By training and strengthening reflective thinking in society, via education and other means, we can encourage individuals to challenge misinformation, and their own belief systems around controversial topics. The book also explores the idea that reflection is not enough on its own and examines the shortcomings of reflection and the other skills that complement it positively, especially holistic and systems thinking. In doing so, the authors highlight how implementing a solid, science-based understanding of key issues in education and society at large, can contribute to the solution of problems, from climate change to economic inequality. By showing how we can put our reflective capacity to good use, alongside critically examining reflection in relation to modern problems experienced by humanity, this book is a fascinating reading for students, researchers, and academics in psychology, politics, and the broader social sciences. © 2025 S. Adil Saribay and Onurcan Yilmaz.
Reflection Predicts and Leads To Decreased Conspiracy Belief
(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Bayrak, F.; Sümer, V.; Dogruyol, B.; Saribay, S.A.; Alper, S.; Isler, O.; Yilmaz, O.
Recent research indicates a generally negative relationship between reflection and conspiracy beliefs. However, most of the existing research relies on correlational data on WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) populations. The few existing experimental studies are limited by weak manipulation techniques that fail to reliably activate cognitive reflection. Hence, questions remain regarding (1) the consistency of the negative relationship between conspiracy beliefs and cognitive reflection, (2) the extent of cross-cultural variation and potential moderating factors, and (3) the presence of a causal link between cognitive reflection and conspiracy beliefs. In two preregistered studies, we investigated the association between cognitive reflection and conspiracy beliefs. First, we studied the correlation between two variables across 48 cultures and investigated whether factors such as WEIRDness and narcissism (personal and collective) moderate this relationship. In the second study, we tested the causal effect of reflection using a reliable and effective manipulation technique—debiasing training—on both generic and specific conspiracy beliefs. The first study confirmed the negative association between reflection and belief in conspiracy theories across cultures, with the association being notably stronger in non-WEIRD societies. Both personal and collective narcissism played significant moderating roles. The second study demonstrated that debiasing training significantly decreases both generic and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs in a non-WEIRD context, with more pronounced effects for general conspiracy beliefs. Our research supports that reflection is a consistent cross-cultural predictor of conspiracy beliefs and that activating reflection can reduce such beliefs through rigorous experimental interventions. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.