It’s worth remembering that science is hard and expensive. That’s one reason social psychology fell in love with these cute little lab experiments that could reliably produce something publishable. To actually test the causal effects of ideology on behavioral or attitudinal outcomes is an imposing undertaking. But there aren’t really any shortcuts: this isn’t like a long road trip where you’d prefer a nice meal but you settle for McDonald’s because you’re in the middle of nowhere, and McDonald’s indeed fills you up and bridges the gap to your next meal. Studies like these, whatever the subject, might honestly tell us nothing about the real-world situations we care about …