Test 1 - Political Psychology

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, cognitive biases, voter heuristics, and theories of political ideology from Political Psychology Test 1.

Scout Mindset

Trying to figure out what is true, even if the answer contradicts what you already believe.

Soldier Mindset

Trying to defend a conclusion you already prefer by looking for information as ammunition for an existing position.

Updating a belief

Changing a belief when new evidence gives you reason to change it, allowing you to become less wrong over time.

Double-standard test

Testing a judgment by asking: would I judge this the same way if the political party labels were reversed?

Rational ignorance

When people do not know everything about politics because learning everything would take too much time and effort, remaining agnostic or aware of their own ignorance.

Rational irrationality

When individuals are unaware of their own ignorance, are psychologically rewarded by confirmation, seek evidence supporting their beliefs, and exclude contradicting information.

Representative heuristic

Judging the likelihood of something based on how much it resembles your mental prototype or example.

Confirmation bias

Remembering or noticing evidence that fits what you already believe while being less likely to remember counterexamples.

Cognitive dissonance

Discomfort caused when two cognitions, or a cognition and a behavior, are inconsistent; reduced by switching beliefs or through denial/rationalization.

Motivated reasoning

When your desired conclusion influences how you process information.

Party labels as shortcuts

An information shortcut voters use to research issues, which can also create confirmation bias and blind party loyalty.

Retrospective voting

Voting based on past performance to give politicians accountability and incentive to perform well, though voters may reward or punish for things leaders did not cause or control.

Following leaders or experts

An information shortcut that can reinforce existing biases (motivated reasoning and group loyalty), where leaders are not necessarily representative of ordinary people.

Ideology

A set of issue positions believed by many to relate to each other in an organized structure.

Liberal

An ideological position characterized by cultural liberalism and economic liberalism.

Conservative

An ideological position characterized by cultural conservatism and economic conservatism.

Populist

An ideological position characterized by cultural conservatism and economic liberalism.

Libertarian

An ideological position characterized by cultural liberalism and economic conservatism.

1) We reason our way into them; 2) Elites spread ideas downward; 3) Ideas reflect social identities & group interests.

Three possibilities for why ideological packages emerge

We reason our way into ideologies

The pathway where individuals observe behavior, form a model of human nature, use that model to interpret solutions, and derive policy preferences.

Elites spread ideas downward

The theory associated with John Zaller where ideas originate among influential people and institutions (professors, politicians) and diffuse through society via receive, accept, and sample mechanisms.

Ideas reflect social identities & group interests

The perspective associated with Lewis & Lewis stating that political beliefs reflect who people are socially affiliated with and the interests of their groups.

Converse findings on ideology

Research showing that most voters are not genuinely ideological, challenging the idea that ideology is a coherent, rational system.

Essentialist theory

The idea that there is an underlying, enduring essence that defines an ideology and remains relatively stable even as specific issues change.

Social theory

The concept that ideology is something shaped by social identities, group interests, and changing social circumstances.

Sticky ideologues

The phenomenon where once people acquire an ideological identity, their beliefs tend to stick together, driving support for specific positions based on that identity.

Private language fallacy

A warning against assuming that political labels mean exactly what you think they mean and have one fixed meaning.

Big government vs. small government, Equality vs. hierarchy, Optimistic vs. pessimistic views of human nature, and Compassion vs. greed.

Competing proposed "essences" of ideology; Proposed core dimensions of ideology

Simplicity, socialization, in-group/out-group mentality, scapegoating, and institutional incentives like party maintenance.

Why left and right persist; Reasons ideological divisions endure

Julia Galef

Scout mindset = discover truth
Soldier mindset = defend beliefs
Update belief = revise your map when evidence conflicts

Double-standard test
Being smart ≠ being a scout

Duarte et al.

Political homogeneity → fewer challenges to dominant assumptions → greater risk of confirmation bias → potentially weaker science

Jarret Christian

Psychological findings aren't automatically reliable just because they're published. Replication helps identify which findings are robust and allows science to self-correct.
Scout mindset = willingness to update when evidence doesn't hold up.

Baylor - ch 1

Party identity → cognitive dissonance → motivated reasoning/rationalization → greater ideological consistency

Political parties can be useful because they organize political competition and simplify choices, but they can also become powerful social identities that encourage groupthink, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, and cognitive dissonance.

Party identity → group loyalty → cognitive dissonance when the party conflicts with your beliefs → rationalization/motivated reasoning → adoption or defense of the party's position.

This reading is especially important because it helps explain why political shortcuts can sometimes help voters but can also distort judgment

Dahlmann & Peterson

• Danish politician study

Dahlmann and Petersen found that political ideology can bias how people interpret evidence, and that providing more evidence can sometimes strengthen rather than weaken prior beliefs, demonstrating motivated reasoning and the limits of simply giving people more information.

Lewis & Lewis ch 5,6

Essentialist theory = left/right has an underlying enduring essence.

Social theory = ideology is shaped by social identities, group interests, and changing circumstances.

Sticky ideologues = ideological identities persist and influence how people interpret new issues.

Private language fallacy = assuming political labels have one universal, fixed meaning.

Why left/right persist:
Simplicity + Socialization + In-group/out-group + Scapegoating + Institutional incentives.