Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not.
Conservatives and liberals have previously been shown to differ in the propensity to view socially-transmitted information about hazards as more plausible than that concerning benefits. Given differences between conservatives and liberals in threat sensitivity and dangerous-world beliefs, correlatio...
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doaj-efce0feaa1b84a9ab7fceccce5efc5a62021-03-03T21:02:32ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032018-01-011312e020865310.1371/journal.pone.0208653Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not.Theodore SamoreDaniel M T FesslerColin HolbrookAdam Maxwell SparksConservatives and liberals have previously been shown to differ in the propensity to view socially-transmitted information about hazards as more plausible than that concerning benefits. Given differences between conservatives and liberals in threat sensitivity and dangerous-world beliefs, correlations between political orientation and negatively-biased credulity may thus reflect endogenous mindsets. Alternatively, such results may owe to the political hierarchy at the time of previous research, as the tendency to see dark forces at work is thought to be greater among those who are out of political power. Adjudicating between these accounts can inform how societies respond to the challenge of alarmist disinformation campaigns. We exploit the consequences of the 2016 U.S. elections to test these competing explanations of differences in negatively-biased credulity and conspiracism as a function of political orientation. Two studies of Americans reveal continued positive associations between conservatism, negatively-biased credulity, and conspiracism despite changes to the power structure in conservatives' favor.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208653 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Theodore Samore Daniel M T Fessler Colin Holbrook Adam Maxwell Sparks |
spellingShingle |
Theodore Samore Daniel M T Fessler Colin Holbrook Adam Maxwell Sparks Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Theodore Samore Daniel M T Fessler Colin Holbrook Adam Maxwell Sparks |
author_sort |
Theodore Samore |
title |
Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. |
title_short |
Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. |
title_full |
Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. |
title_fullStr |
Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. |
title_sort |
electoral fortunes reverse, mindsets do not. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2018-01-01 |
description |
Conservatives and liberals have previously been shown to differ in the propensity to view socially-transmitted information about hazards as more plausible than that concerning benefits. Given differences between conservatives and liberals in threat sensitivity and dangerous-world beliefs, correlations between political orientation and negatively-biased credulity may thus reflect endogenous mindsets. Alternatively, such results may owe to the political hierarchy at the time of previous research, as the tendency to see dark forces at work is thought to be greater among those who are out of political power. Adjudicating between these accounts can inform how societies respond to the challenge of alarmist disinformation campaigns. We exploit the consequences of the 2016 U.S. elections to test these competing explanations of differences in negatively-biased credulity and conspiracism as a function of political orientation. Two studies of Americans reveal continued positive associations between conservatism, negatively-biased credulity, and conspiracism despite changes to the power structure in conservatives' favor. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208653 |
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