📈💬💡 When data challenges a belief that is central to someone’s identity, the person may respond as though facing a personal threat. Reduce the threat before expecting careful evaluation of the evidence. #DataCommunication #CriticalThinking #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 Consider whether accepting your data would make the audience feel disloyal, incompetent, immoral, or unlike the person or group it believes itself to be. Identity-linked beliefs usually produce stronger resistance. #DataCommunication #BehavioralScience #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 Do not treat every belief as equally resistant to change. Before sharing related data, ask how certain the audience is, how long it has held the belief, & what personal or social consequences would follow from changing it. #DataCommunication #ScienceCommunication #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 Ask what the audience believes about how the world works & whether your findings contradict those beliefs. A belief may actually support the person’s identity, values, status, or trusted authorities…all factors in how data lands. #DataCommunication #BehavioralScience #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 Have a messenger who once held your audience's views describe their previous stance, the evidence or experience that challenged it, & the steps that led to change. This gives the audience a possible path for reconsideration. #DataCommunication #DataStorytelling #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 People often overestimate how extreme or uninformed an outgroup is. Present accurate data about the other group’s actual views & behavior before asking the audience to evaluate a related issue. #DataCommunication #SocialPsychology #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 When the audience uses broad labels or simple narratives, ask for the steps, mechanisms, examples, or evidence behind the claim. Specific explanation can reveal gaps hidden by general language. #DataCommunication #CriticalThinking #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 Invite people to examine where a belief came from & whether different circumstances might have produced a different belief. This can reduce certainty & increase intellectual humility. #DataCommunication #CriticalThinking #BeliefChange

📈💬💡 This question identifies the audience’s own standard for reconsideration. It also reveals whether the belief is open to evidence or protected from any possible disconfirmation. #DataCommunication #CriticalThinking #BeliefChange