scholarly journals Closed-Minded Cognition: Right-Wing Authoritarianism is Negatively Related to Belief Updating Following Prediction Error

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa Hannah Sinclair ◽  
Matthew Stanley ◽  
Paul Seli
Keyword(s):  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Prediction Error ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Belief Updating ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
New Information ◽  
The World

When confronted with information that challenges our beliefs, we must often learn from error in order to successfully navigate the world. Past studies in reinforcement learning and educational psychology have linked prediction error, a measure of surprise, to successful learning from feedback. However, there are substantial individual differences in belief-updating success, and the psychological factors that influence belief updating remain unclear. Here, we identify a novel factor that may predict belief updating: Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), which is characterized by a desire for order, structure, and preservation of social norms. We hypothesized that, because people who score high on RWA are motivated to preserve entrenched beliefs, they may often fail to successfully update their beliefs when confronted with new information. Using a novel paradigm, we challenged participants’ false beliefs and misconceptions to elicit prediction error. In two studies, we found consistent evidence that high-RWA individuals were less successful at correcting their false beliefs. Relative to low-RWA individuals, high-RWA individuals were less likely to revise beliefs in response to prediction error. We argue that RWA is associated with a relatively closed-minded cognitive style that negatively influences belief updating.

Factors influencing the update of beliefs regarding controversial political issues

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Kube
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Error ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Prior Beliefs ◽  
Belief Updating ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
New Information ◽  
The World ◽  
Disconfirming Information ◽  
Selective Integration

When updating beliefs in light of new information, people preferentially integrate information that is consistent with their prior beliefs and helps them construe a coherent view of the world. Such a selective integration of new information likely contributes to belief polarisation and compromises public discourse. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the factors that underlie biased belief updating. To this end, I conducted three pre-registered experiments covering different controversial political issues (i.e., Experiment 1: climate change, Experiment 2: speed limit on highways, Experiment 3: immigration in relation to violent crime). The main hypothesis was that negative reappraisal of new information (referred to as “cognitive immunisation”) hinders belief updating. Support for this hypothesis was found only in Experiment 2. In all experiments, the magnitude of the prediction error (i.e., the discrepancy between prior beliefs and new information) was strongly related to belief updating. Across experiments, participants’ general attitudes regarding the respective issue influenced the strength of beliefs, but not their update. The present findings provide some indication that the engagement in cognitive immunisation can lead to the maintenance of beliefs despite disconfirming information. However, by far the largest association with belief updating was with the magnitude of the prediction error.

scholarly journals Contextual and Psychological Predictors of Militant Extremist Mindset in Youth

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maša Vukčević Marković ◽  
Aleksandra Nicović ◽  
Marko Živanović
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Psychological Measures ◽  
Peer Abuse

The present study aims to identify contextual and psychological factors of proneness to radicalization and violent extremism (RVE) operationalized through the Militant Extremist Mindset scale (MEM) consisting of three distinct aspects: Proviolence (PV), Vile World beliefs (VW), and trust in Divine Power (DP). A community sample of 271 high school students (72% females) from Belgrade and Sandžak regions in Serbia completed: (1) a 24-item MEM scale; (2) contextual measures including a 6-item scale of family dysfunction (FDys) and a 4-item composite measure capturing exposure to a harsh school environment and peer abuse (HSE); (3) psychological measures including the 9-item Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale (RWA), the 5-item Social Dominance Orientation scale (SDO), and the 20-item UCLA Loneliness scale (LON). A path analysis was conducted with contextual factors on the first and psychological factors on the second level of the model predicting the three factors of MEM. LON was positively predicted by FDys and HSE, SDO by HSE only, while RWA was positively predicted by FDys only. Contextual and psychological factors accounted for 27% of the variance in PV (LON, SDO), 15% of the variance in VW (FDys, SDO), and 31% of the variance in DP (RWA). Obtained findings reveal a complex interplay of contextual and psychological drivers in the prediction of different aspects of RVE and build upon existing knowledge on risk factors associated with RVE.

scholarly journals Determinants of Discriminatory Attitudes Based on External Signs and Manifestations

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 163-179
Author(s):  
R.M. Shamionov
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Skin Color ◽  
Short Version ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Unusual Behavior ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
The World ◽  
Source Of Information

External signs and manifestations of the Other are the most important source of information on the basis of which social and cognitive processes are launched, as a result of which their place in the system of representations of the world is established. Despite the efforts made by the society to eliminate discriminatory attitudes, their number does not decrease. Therefore, the study of the determinants of discriminatory attitudes based on the external manifestations of another does not lose its relevance. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of values and focus on authoritarianism and social dominance in variations of discriminatory attitudes based on external signs and manifestations of Another. The study involved 217 people, average age M = 28.9; SD = 11.2 (men-36%).We used a questionnaire for fixing socio-demographic characteristics, and original scales for evaluating discriminatory attitudes. The expression of values was determined using the Schwartz method (2012). To assess right-wing authoritarianism, which reflects the motivation and attitudes to maintain social cohesion, order, stability, and collective security, a short version of the Dakkit’s questioner developed by D. S. Grigoriev (2017) was used. It is shown that the person’s manifestation that causes the strongest rejection is unusual behavior, as well as emotional manifestations, and the sign of skin color was the least irritating factor. The values of tradition, social security, and reputation contribute to the manifestation of discriminatory attitudes on external grounds, and the values of independence-thoughts, independence-actions, universalism-tolerance, and universalism-concern for nature-undermine them. On the basis of structural modeling, the directions of relations from values to discriminatory attitudes are established directly and indirectly, through an assessment of the rejection of representatives of discriminated groups in various spheres of life and the ideological installation of right-wing authoritarianism.

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