United in States of Dissatisfaction

Confirmation Bias Across the Partisan Divide

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6180331
AutoresAmy E Lerman (0000-0002-5577-5909, University of California, Berkeley, autor correspondente), Daniel Acland (0000-0001-7698-6986, University of California, Berkeley)
Ano2020
Volume48
Fascículo2
Páginas227-237
Data de publicação2020-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Politics Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1532-673X • E-ISSN: 1552-3373
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1532673x18799274
OpenAlexW2889768034
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas13
Referências citadas42

Partisan polarization is a central feature of American political life, and a robust literature has shown that citizens engage in partisan motivated reasoning when processing political information. At the same time, however, recent events have highlighted a rising tide of antigovernment sentiment among Democrats and Republicans alike. Using an original set of survey experiments, we find that citizens engage in confirmation bias when they encounter new information, and this is driven not only by party and ideology but also by beliefs about the quality and efficiency of government. Taken together, our findings suggest important limitations to citizens’ capacity to learn about public administration, and expand our understanding of what drives confirmation bias with respect to public and private service provision

Ideology · Motivated reasoning · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology