Skip to main content
Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Doubt’s Dual Triggers: A Pilot Experimental Study on Epistemic Beliefs Using a Climate-Related Controversy Cover

Doubt’s Dual Triggers: A Pilot Experimental Study on Epistemic Beliefs Using a Climate-Related Controversy

Open Access
|Sep 2026

References

  1. Anmarkrud, Ø., Bråten, I., & Strømsø, H. I. (2014). Multiple-documents literacy: Strategic processing, source awareness, and argumentation when reading multiple conflicting documents. Learning and Individual Differences, 30, 64-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.01.007
  2. Aspernäs, J., Erlandsson, A., & Nilsson, A. (2023). Misperceptions in a post-truth world: Effects of subjectivism and cultural relativism on bullshit receptivity and conspiracist ideation. Journal of Research in Personality, 105, 104394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2023.104394
  3. Barzilai, S., & Chinn, C. A. (2024). The AIR and Apt-AIR Frameworks of Epistemic Performance and Growth: Reflections on Educational Theory Development. Educational Psychology Review, 36(3), 91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09927-5
  4. Barzilai, S., & Weinstock, M. (2015). Measuring epistemic thinking within and across topics: A scenario-based approach. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 42, 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.06.006
  5. Bendixen, L. D. (1998). A phenomenological study of epistemic doubt. University of Nebrascka - Lincoln. Bendixen, L. D., & Rule, D. C. (2004). An Integrative Approach to Personal Epistemology: A Guiding Model. Educational Psychologist, 39(1), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3901_7
  6. Brandmo, C., & Bråten, I. (2018). Investigating relations between beliefs about justification for knowing, interest, and knowledge across two socio-scientific topics. Learning and Individual Differences, 62, 89-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2018.01.010
  7. Bråten, I., Brandmo, C., Ferguson, L. E., & Strømsø, H. I. (2022). Epistemic justification in multiple document literacy: A refutation text intervention. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 71, 102122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2022.102122
  8. Bråten, I., Gil, L., Strømsø, H. I., & Vidal-Abarca, E. (2009). Personal epistemology across cultures: Exploring Norwegian and Spanish university students’ epistemic beliefs about climate change. Social Psychology of Education, 12(4), 529-560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-009-9097-z
  9. Bråten, I., Strømsø, H. I., & Salmerón, L. (2011). Trust and mistrust when students read multiple information sources about climate change. Learning and Instruction, 21(2), 180-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2010.02.002
  10. Cano, F. (2005). Epistemological beliefs and approaches to learning: Their change through secondary school and their influence on academic performance. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(2), 203-221. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709904x22683
  11. Cartiff, B. M., Duke, R. F., & Greene, J. A. (2021). The effect of epistemic cognition interventions on academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(3), 477-498. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000490
  12. Cheval, S., Bulai, A., Croitoru, A.-E., Dorondel, Ștefan, Micu, D., Mihăilă, D., Sfîcă, L., & Tișcovschi, A. (2022). Climate change perception in Romania. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 149(1-2), 253-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04041-4
  13. Cohen, J. (2013). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2-lea ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203771587
  14. Cronbach, L. J., & Furby, L. (1970). How we should measure „change”: Or should we? Psychological Bulletin, 74(1), 68-80. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0029382
  15. Dole, J. A., & Sinatra, G. M. (1998). Reconceptalizing change in the cognitive construction of knowledge. Educational Psychologist, 33(2-3), 109-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.1998.9653294
  16. Edelsbrunner, P. A., Nehring, A., Kampa, N., Schiefer, J., & Bernholt, A. (2022). Epistemic Beliefs in Science—An Integration of Evidence From Multiple Studies. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/k9yeh
  17. Ferguson, L. E., Bråten, I., & Strømsø, H. I. (2012). Epistemic cognition when students read multiple documents containing conflicting scientific evidence: A think-aloud study. Learning and Instruction, 22(2), 103-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2011.08.002
  18. Ferguson, L. E., Bråten, I., Strømsø, H. I., & Anmarkrud, Ø. (2013). Epistemic beliefs and comprehension in the context of reading multiple documents: Examining the role of conflict. International Journal of Educational Research, 62, 100-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.07.001
  19. Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance (pp. xi, 291). Stanford University Press.
  20. Flesch, R. (1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32(3), 221-233. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0057532
  21. Graesser, A. C., & D’Mello, S. (2012). Emotions during the learning of difficult material. În The psychology of learning and motivation, Vol. 57 (pp. 183-225). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394293-7.00005-4
  22. Greene, J. A., Cartiff, B. M., & Duke, R. F. (2018). A meta-analytic review of the relationship between epistemic cognition and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(8), 1084-1111. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000263
  23. Greene, J. A., & Yu, S. B. (2016). Educating Critical Thinkers: The Role of Epistemic Cognition. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215622223
  24. Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (2019). An introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an overview of current perspectives on the theory. În E. Harmon-Jones (Ed.), Cognitive dissonance: Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology (2nd ed.). (pp. 3-24). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000135-001
  25. Hoes, E., Aitken, B., Zhang, J., Gackowski, T., & Wojcieszak, M. (2024). Prominent misinformation interventions reduce misperceptions but increase scepticism. Nature Human Behaviour, 8(8), 1545-1553. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01884-x
  26. Hofer, B. K. (2002). Personal epistemology as a psychological and educational construct: An introduction. În Personal Epistemology: The Psychology of Beliefs About Knowledge and Knowing: Vols. 3–14 (1st ed.).
  27. Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The Development of Epistemological Theories: Beliefs About Knowledge and Knowing and Their Relation to Learning. Review of Educational Research, 67(1), 88-140. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543067001088
  28. Inquisit 6.6.1. (2022). [Software]. https://www.millisecond.com
  29. Juarros-Basterretxea, J., Aonso-Diego, G., Postigo, Á., Montes-Álvarez, P., Menéndez-Aller, Á., & García-Cueto, E. (2024). Post-hoc tests in one-way ANOVA: The case for normal distribution. Methodology, 20(2), 84-99. https://doi.org/10.5964/meth.11721
  30. Karimi, M. N. (2024). Text-belief consistency effect in L2 students’ integrated written representations based on multiple conflicting sources: Comparisons across summary vs. argumentation task instructions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 76, 102239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102239
  31. Karimi, M. N., & Richter, T. (2021). Biased representations of controversial information: Certainty and justification beliefs as moderators. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 66, 101995. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.101995
  32. Kerwer, M., & Rosman, T. (2018). Mechanisms of Epistemic Change—Under Which Circumstances Does Diverging Information Support Epistemic Development? Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2278. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02278
  33. Kerwer, M., & Rosman, T. (2020). Epistemic change and diverging information: How do prior epistemic beliefs affect the efficacy of short-term interventions? Learning and Individual Differences, 80, 101886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101886
  34. Kerwer, M., Rosman, T., Wedderhoff, O., & Chasiotis, A. (2021). Disentangling the process of epistemic change: The role of epistemic volition. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12372
  35. Krettenauer, T. (2005). Die Erfassung des Entwicklungsniveaus epistemologischer Überzeugungen und das Problem der Übertragbarkeit von Interviewverfahren in standardisierte Fragebogenmethoden. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie, 37(2), 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637.37.2.69
  36. Kuhn, D. (2001). How do People Know? Psychological Science, 12(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00302
  37. Kuhn, D., Cheney, R., & Weinstock, M. (2000). The development of epistemological understanding. Cognitive Development, 15(3), 309-328. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(00)00030-7
  38. Kuhn, D., & Weinstock, M. (2002). What is epistemological thinking and why does it matter? În In B. K. Hofer & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 121-144). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
  39. Lahtinen, A.-M., & Pehkonen, L. (2013). ‘Seeing things in a new light,: Conditions for changes in the epistemological beliefs of university students. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 37(3), 397-415. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2011.645458
  40. Lee, S. K., Sun, J., Jang, S., & Connelly, S. (2022). Misinformation of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 13681. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17430-6
  41. Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. H., & Cook, J. (2017). Beyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “post-truth” era. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.07.008
  42. Lumley, T., Diehr, P., Emerson, S., & Chen, L. (2002). The importance of the normality assumption in large public health data sets. Annual Review of Public Health, 23, 151-169. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.23.100901.140546
  43. Medimorec, S., & Pennycook, G. (2015). The language of denial: Text analysis reveals differences in language use between climate change proponents and skeptics. Climatic Change, 133(4), 597-605. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1475-2
  44. Merk, S., Rosman, T., Muis, K. R., Kelava, A., & Bohl, T. (2018). Topic specific epistemic beliefs: Extending the Theory of Integrated Domains in Personal Epistemology. Learning and Instruction, 56, 84-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.04.008
  45. Metz, S. E., Weisberg, D. S., & Weisberg, M. (2018). Non‐ Scientific Criteria for Belief Sustain Counter‐Scientific Beliefs. Cognitive Science, 42(5), 1477-1503. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12584
  46. Muis, K. R., Etoubashi, N., & Denton, C. A. (2020). The catcher in the lie: The role of emotions and epistemic judgments in changing students’ misconceptions and attitudes in a post-truth era. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 62, 101898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101898
  47. Muis, K. R., Pekrun, R., Sinatra, G. M., Azevedo, R., Trevors, G., Meier, E., & Heddy, B. C. (2015). The curious case of climate change: Testing a theoretical model of epistemic beliefs, epistemic emotions, and complex learning. Learning and Instruction, 39, 168-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2015.06.003
  48. Orona, G. A., Eccles, J. S., Solanki, S., Copp, D. A., Dang, Q.-V., & Arum, R. (2025). The structure of adult thinking: A network approach to (meta)cognitive processing. Learning and Individual Differences, 117, 102584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102584
  49. Pekrun, R., & Stephens, E. J. (2012). Academic emotions. În APA educational psychology handbook, Vol 2: Individual differences and cultural and contextual factors (pp. 3-31). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13274-001
  50. Pekrun, R., Vogl, E., Muis, K. R., & Sinatra, G. M. (2017). Measuring emotions during epistemic activities: The Epistemically-Related Emotion Scales. Cognition and Emotion, 31(6), 1268-1276. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1204989
  51. Piaget, J. (cu contribuția Internet Archive). (1985). The equilibration of cognitive structures: The central problem of intellectual development. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. http://archive.org/details/equilibrationofc0000piag
  52. Posetti, J., & Matthews, A. (2018). A short guide to the history of ’fake news’ and disinformation.
  53. Richardson, J. T. E. (2018). The use of Latin-square designs in educational and psychological research. Educational Research Review, 24, 84-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.03.003
  54. Richter, T., & Maier, J. (2017). Comprehension of Multiple Documents With Conflicting Information: A Two-Step Model of Validation. Educational Psychologist, 52(3), 148-166. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1322968
  55. Rijo, A., & Waldzus, S. (2023). That’s interesting! The role of epistemic emotions and perceived credibility in the relation between prior beliefs and susceptibility to fake-news. Computers in Human Behavior, 141, 107619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107619
  56. Rosman, T., & Kerwer, M. (2022). Mechanisms of Epistemic Change: The Roles of Reflection and Social Interaction. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 21(3), 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/14757257221098860
  57. Rosman, T., Mayer, A.-K., Merk, S., & Kerwer, M. (2019). On the benefits of ‘doing science’: Does integrative writing about scientific controversies foster epistemic beliefs? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 58, 85-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.02.007
  58. Rosman, T., Mayer, A.-K., Peter, J., & Krampen, G. (2016). Need for cognitive closure may impede the effectiveness of epistemic belief instruction. Learning and Individual Differences, 49, 406-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.05.017
  59. Rudloff, J. P., & Appel, M. (2023). When truthiness trumps truth: Epistemic beliefs predict the accurate discernment of fake news. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 12(3), 344-351. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000070
  60. Rule, D. C., & Bendixen, L. D. (2010). The integrative model of personal epistemology development: Theoretical underpinnings and implications for education. În L. D. Bendixen & F. C. Feucht (Ed.), Personal Epistemology in the Classroom (1 ed., pp. 94-123). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511691904.004
  61. Sandoval, W. A., Greene, J. A., & Bråten, I. (2016). Understanding and Promoting Thinking About Knowledge: Origins, Issues, and Future Directions of Research on Epistemic Cognition. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 457-496. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16669319
  62. Schmidt, A. F., & Finan, C. (2018). Linear regression and the normality assumption. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 98, 146-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2017.12.006
  63. Schoor, C. (2023). University students’ beliefs about science and their relationship with knowledge about science. European Journal of Psychology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00724-2
  64. Strømsø, H. I., Bråten, I., & Britt, M. A. (2010). Reading multiple texts about climate change: The relationship between memory for sources and text comprehension. Learning and Instruction, 20(3), 192-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.02.001
  65. Trevors, G. J., Muis, K. R., Pekrun, R., Sinatra, G. M., & Muijselaar, M. M. L. (2017). Exploring the relations between epistemic beliefs, emotions, and learning from texts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 48, 116-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.10.001
  66. Van Der Linden, S., Albarracín, D., Fazio, L., Freelon, D., Roozenbeek, J., Swire-Thompson, B., & Van Bavel, J. (2023). Using Psychological Science To Understand And Fight Health Misinformation: An APA Consensus Statement: (506432023-001) [Set de date]. https://doi.org/10.1037/e506432023-001
  67. Van Kessel, S., Sajuria, J., & Van Hauwaert, S. M. (2021). Informed, uninformed or misinformed? A cross-national analysis of populist party supporters across European democracies. West European Politics, 44(3), 585-610. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2019.1700448
  68. Vogl, E., Pekrun, R., Murayama, K., & Loderer, K. (2020). Surprised-curious-confused: Epistemic emotions and knowledge exploration. Emotion, 20(4), 625-641. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000578
Language: English
Page range: 81 - 99
Submitted on: Aug 4, 2025
Accepted on: Aug 9, 2026
Published on: Sep 30, 2026
Published by: West University of Timisoara
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2026 Raluca Oneț-Furdui, Alin Gavreliuc, published by West University of Timisoara
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.