Political Pychology

[Minor Axis]

Newsweek: I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Going To Vote.

Outstanding article on political psychology of the angry voter. Even I am subject to this effect, I admit it.

While anxious voters seek out many sources of information, angry ones “want to rally round their convictions,” says Marcus. “They’re not interested in objective information, but only in the kind that reinforces what they believe.” Democrats can therefore bombard talk shows and op-ed pages and blogs with studies showing that TARP prevented a financial implosion or that the health-care-reform law will save billions of dollars, but many of the voters they need to reach aren’t hearing it.

“People have a great capacity to engage in what’s called motivated reasoning,” says political scientist Hank Jenkins-Smith of the University of Oklahoma. “If you have a strongly held belief with an emotional component, the brain defends information that reinforces those ‘priors’ and is skeptical of information that challenges them.” Voters who “know in their gut” that the country could save a bundle by cutting that holy trinity of waste, fraud, and abuse do not hear that the GOP’s “Pledge to America” wouldn’t come close to reducing what is projected to be a deficit of $1.9 trillion by 2035. Paradoxically, the more that issues are explained in neutral forums such as the news media, the more people’s beliefs are cemented. “People who hold these hard priors filter information to support their perceptions,” says Jenkins-Smith.

Maybe the last bolded text is why Faux News has been so successful on a certain level.

 

[Accountable]

Newsweek: I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Going To Vote.

Outstanding article on political psychology of the angry voter. Even I am subject to this effect, I admit it.



Maybe the last bolded text is why Faux News has been so successful on a certain level.

I'm subject to it. That's why I sit at a low desk, so that when I have a knee-jerk reaction I hurt my leg before I get a chance to post.
I think part of Fox's success is that they're the only fish in their pond. The left's apologists are more diluted, having 4 (or more?) networks. If there were only two I think we'd see more of a 50/50 split.

“If you have a strongly held belief with an emotional component, the brain defends information that reinforces those ‘priors’ and is skeptical of information that challenges them.”

Man, ain't that the truth? That's the bread and butter of political chat forums.

 

[Accountable]

Given that the Tea Party movement was launched with a furious on-air outburst by CNBC’s Rick Santelli in February 2009, when he called for a “Chicago Tea Party” to protest the White House mortgage-bailout plan, ...

I always chuckle when I read this, since Ron Paul has been using the phrase for years and Glenn Beck already had a T.E.A. Party rally scheduled when Rick has his rant. Not to mention that he had it during the daytime on a channel watched only by finance geeks (like me and my beloved). Meet the Press always makes a point of saying he's the Father of the Tea Party movement as he sagely nods. :24: Is Newsweek linked with NBC, other than being leftist?