This is why I spent so much time on in-group psychology, and its relationship to politics, in the book.
For most people, most of the time, protecting your social status and relationships is much more important than being, in some abstract way, right about politics.
For most people, most of the time, protecting your social status and relationships is much more important than being, in some abstract way, right about politics.
I find this research scary and a direct challenge to the work I've devoted myself to, but I also think it is, largely, true. 
What's scary about it is that these incentives don't just operate through fear an cynicism. They operate through motivated reasoning. As @JonHaidt says, they activate the press secretary in our mind, who convinces us to sincerely believe what our group wants us to believe.
