Language Is Fueling , the US Political Divide, Studies Reveal.
PsyPost reports that a recent series of studies
suggests that the way political opinions are
expressed can amplify perceived political differences.
PsyPost reports that a recent series of studies
suggests that the way political opinions are
expressed can amplify perceived political differences.
According to findings published in the 'Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS), generalized
statements contribute to increased public polarization.
Study author Gustavo Novoa, a PhD candidate in political
science at Columbia University, and his colleagues conducted
a series of three studies on the impact of generic language.
The first of the studies looked to investigate how
endorsements of generic political statements could
influence how people perceive political polarization.
The second study looked at people's ability to recall
political information, particularly the tendency to
remember quantified statements as generics.
The third study explored how polarized judgments
emerge from exposure to generic statements about
political parties versus quantified statements.
PsyPost reports that the findings
reveal the powerful role of
language on political discourse. .
According to Novoa, the findings are evidence , "that the use of generic language, common in everyday
speech, has the potential to be interpreted to mean
extreme prevalences where they might not exist.".
According to Novoa, the findings are evidence , "that the use of generic language, common in everyday
speech, has the potential to be interpreted to mean
extreme prevalences where they might not exist.".
Novoa explains that "you might find examples in the media
that argue that Democratic voters are in favor of raising
taxes. This is true only in the sense that Democratic voters
favor raising taxes at a greater rate than Republican voters.
In reality, neither Republican
nor Democrat voters support
higher taxes. However, you make
the statement that Democrats support
higher taxes and Republicans do not,
most people will agree when surveyed, Gustavo Novoa, study author and PhD candidate
in political science at Columbia University, via PsyPost
