http://www.culturalcognition.net/

"The Cultural Cognition Project is a group of scholars interested in studying how cultural values shape public risk perceptions and related policy beliefs. Cultural cognition refers to the tendency of individuals to conform their beliefs about disputed matters of fact (e.g., whether global warming is a serious threat; whether the death penalty deters murder; whether gun control makes society more safe or less) to values that define their cultural identities."

via: How the Public Perceives Science

Interesting site. I remember thinking about this a lot when there was the stupid MMR debacle here in the UK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine_controversy). The whole thing demonstrated what seemed to be a bizarre lack of risk perception skills on the part of parents, but when you look at it in a social context the motives for not giving their children the MMR were largely cultural, and the perceived autism link was a great excuse for some group affirmation.

I think about this every day because there are stupid debates always happening in the US about whether evolution should be taught in schools.