People have a tendency to disregard information that contradicts their partisan or ideological identity. This inclination can become especially striking when citizens reject notions that scientists would consider “facts” in the light of overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus. The resulting polarization over science has reached alarming levels in recent years. This theoretical review conceptualizes political polarization over science and argues that it is driven by two interrelated processes. Through psychological science rejection, people can implicitly disregard scientific facts that are inconsistent with their political identity. Alternatively, citizens can engage in ideological science rejection by adhering to a political ideology that explicitly contests science. This contestation can in turn be subdivided into four levels of generalization: An ideology can dispute either specific scientific claims, distinct research fields, science in general, or the entire political system and elite. By proposing this interdisciplinary framework, this article aims to integrate insights from various disciplines.

人们倾向于忽视与其党派或意识形态身份相矛盾的信息。当公民拒绝科学家会根据压倒性的科学证据和共识来考虑“事实”的观念时，这种倾向会变得特别引人注目。近年来，由此产生的对科学的两极分化达到了惊人的程度。这篇理论评论将科学上的政治两极分化概念化，并认为它是由两个相互关联的过程驱动的。通过心理科学拒绝，人们可以含蓄地无视与其政治身份不一致的科学事实。或者，公民可以参与意识形态科学拒绝通过坚持明确反对科学的政治意识形态。这种争论又可以细分为四个概括层次：一种意识形态可以对特定的科学主张、不同的研究领域、一般科学或整个政治体系和精英提出异议。通过提出这个跨学科框架，本文旨在整合来自各个学科的见解。