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Chapter 13 - Political Belief Formation: Individual Differences and Situational Factors

from Economics and Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2022

By
Lala Muradova  and
Kevin Arceneaux
Edited by
Julien Musolino ,
Joseph Sommer  and
Pernille Hemmer
Julien Musolino
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Joseph Sommer
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Pernille Hemmer
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
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Summary

This chapter reviews research at the intersection of psychology and political science that studies how people form political beliefs. We discuss the degree to which people’s motivations shape the beliefs that they form, paying particular attention to the extent to which people’s political beliefs are generated through reflection. Both individual differences and situational factors affect the extent to which people are reflective in political domains. As always, more questions remain than researchers have answered, and we conclude with some thoughts about the most pressing ones that future research should tackle.

Keywords

reflectionpolitical reasoningindividual differencesempathymotivated reasoningopinion formationdispositionsdeliberation
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cognitive Science of Belief
A Multidisciplinary Approach
 , pp. 279 - 297
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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