The question of what causes the disparity seems somewhat empirically tractable. For example, one could assess whether conservatives (in the broader population) are lower in EA-related attitudes (the challenge, of course, would be in developing valid measures which aren’t implicitly coded as either liberal or conservative).
We could also test different framings of EA and examine how support for EA from conservatives/liberals varies in response to these different frames. It seems very plausible that interest in EA (from different groups) might vary dramatically across different frames. I think this research should be done for different demographic groups (e.g. gender, race, age), but it would also be tractable and relevant to examine the influence of political ideology. It’s possible that different framings would be dramatically more successful in reaching different groups.
It would also be interesting to examine the effect of presenting people with a view of EA which highlights its diversity (or lack thereof) on relevant dimensions and see how far this changes interest in learning more or getting involved. For example, one could present a description of EA, (such as, an account of an EAG which includes vignettes about various EAs who are all prominently liberal or which includes a mix of conservatives) and see how far this changes levels of interest in EA.
Another alternative explanation (to conservatives being turned off by some factor), could be differences in exposure to EA. Our survey on how many people have heard of EA suggests that about twice as many Democrats as Republicans have encountered EA (for sex, the gap is around 3:2, which would imply 60% men, 40% women).
Presumably the question of whether a disparity is a problem that requires attention depends, at least in part, on the causal question, although, of course, one might be concerned about epistemic and other effects regardless.
David—excellent suggestions. I agree that these are empirically tractable questions, and you outlined some good strategies for exploring them. I’m happy to collaborate with anyone who wants to push ahead with these ideas.
Thanks for the comment!
The question of what causes the disparity seems somewhat empirically tractable. For example, one could assess whether conservatives (in the broader population) are lower in EA-related attitudes (the challenge, of course, would be in developing valid measures which aren’t implicitly coded as either liberal or conservative).
We could also test different framings of EA and examine how support for EA from conservatives/liberals varies in response to these different frames. It seems very plausible that interest in EA (from different groups) might vary dramatically across different frames. I think this research should be done for different demographic groups (e.g. gender, race, age), but it would also be tractable and relevant to examine the influence of political ideology. It’s possible that different framings would be dramatically more successful in reaching different groups.
It would also be interesting to examine the effect of presenting people with a view of EA which highlights its diversity (or lack thereof) on relevant dimensions and see how far this changes interest in learning more or getting involved. For example, one could present a description of EA, (such as, an account of an EAG which includes vignettes about various EAs who are all prominently liberal or which includes a mix of conservatives) and see how far this changes levels of interest in EA.
Another alternative explanation (to conservatives being turned off by some factor), could be differences in exposure to EA. Our survey on how many people have heard of EA suggests that about twice as many Democrats as Republicans have encountered EA (for sex, the gap is around 3:2, which would imply 60% men, 40% women).
Presumably the question of whether a disparity is a problem that requires attention depends, at least in part, on the causal question, although, of course, one might be concerned about epistemic and other effects regardless.
David—excellent suggestions. I agree that these are empirically tractable questions, and you outlined some good strategies for exploring them. I’m happy to collaborate with anyone who wants to push ahead with these ideas.