math skills weren’t the best predictor of which participants answered correctly

Here, math skills weren’t the best predictor of which participants answered correctly.Instead, another variable the researchers
had been tracking came into play:political identity.Participants whose political beliefs aligned with a correct interpretation
of the data were far more likely to answer the problem right.
Even the study’s top mathematicians were 45% more likely
to get the second question wrong when the correct answer
challenged their political beliefs.What is it about politics that inspires this kind of illogical error?Can someone’s political identity
actually affect their ability to process information?
The answer lies in a cognitive phenomenon that has become increasingly visible in public life: partisanship