Most of the research I’m familiar with is related to cognitive biases from areas related to political science or religious beliefs and it’s very obvious now tha

Most of the research I’m familiar with is related to cognitive biases from areas related to political science or religious beliefs and it’s very obvious now that facts are not a way to get people to believe things that were initially spurred by emotional reasons. Most of the stuff I’ve seen basically says it’s impossible to get people to get past their cognitive dissonance problems without making something very personal that requires them to adapt or risk more or less a form of identity loss. In fact, facts may cause people to bank even more on their existing beliefs and seek out “alternative facts” that support their current beliefs. This is a similar mechanic to how some anti-LGBT politicians have relented on their publicly known positions when some of their immediate family members have come out as homosexual. This is not consistent either - many such persons are simply disowned by their families and in extreme cases of bigotry result in an honor killing. My personal, not-very tested belief is that there is a strong biological component to political alignments and if you put that person in a different culture they’d gravitate toward similar values on a relative scale.