Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Research has indicated that partisan polarization is growing, and while partisanship itself is not inherently destructive, unchecked polarization may debilitate the healthy functioning of the American democracy.Additional research indicates that citizens and politicians are subject to motivated reasoning, which may serve to spur further polarization.In response, the current study represents an attempt to mitigate the cognitive biases related to motivated reasoning.A betweengroups, online survey experiment was performed in order to test the debiasing technique of accountability by measuring the integrative complexity of participants' expressed opinions on abortion.The hypothesis that the intervention would cause greater integrative complexity in the treatment group in comparison to the control was found to be null.However, the difference in the mean scores of integrative complexity was significantly moderated by political knowledge.Implications of the results for future debiasing in the online context attempts are discussed.is dedicated to everyone who helped along the way.I'd like to give my thanks in particular to the members of my thesis committee for being heroically patient and supportive through this entire process.In addition, thank you to my CR classmates and the program staff for being a fantastic sounding board and source of solace.Importantly, thank you to my family for being a shoulder to lean on, giving me strength and love when I needed it most.Finally, a very special mention to my dear friend Jessica for proofreading my draft at the last minute.I understand more and more every day the idea that no person is an island; please accept my sincere thanks and know I could not have done it without you all.v
Author: Rachel Bulger
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3090173047