The Effects of Reductive Explanations, Scientific Topic, and Political Attitudes on Credibility Ratings: Three Pre-Registered Tests of the Reductive Allure Effect

Previous research suggests that people rate scientific explanations that include reductive jargon as better than those without.  Across three pre-registered studies, we were unable to replicate this "reductive allure" effect in general, and we did not find differences between apolitical and politicized topics, or between politically conservative and liberal participants.