Political psychology examines how cognitive, emotional, and social processes shape political attitudes, identity, and behavior. In the misinformation literature, political psychology provides theoretical grounding for understanding partisan differences in belief and sharing behavior, identity-driven reasoning, and the effectiveness of interventions.
Key themes in misinformation research
- Identity-motivated reasoning: Political identity can motivate selective evaluation of evidence, with identity-congruent claims accepted with lower evidence thresholds than identity-incongruent claims
- Affective polarization: Dislike of opposing political groups can increase engagement with divisive content and reduce openness to out-group information
- Partisan asymmetries in reasoning: Some evidence that different political groups may rely on different cognitive processes when evaluating political claims
- Social identity and sharing: Partisan identity predicts social tie formation and content sharing on social media; people may share misinformation to signal identity or in-group belonging
- Emotion and engagement: Out-group animosity and emotional content are strongest predictors of social media engagement
Key papers
- Martel et al. (2024) — On the Efficacy of Accuracy Prompts Across Partisan Lines: An Adversarial Collaboration — Examines psychological mechanisms underlying partisan moderation of intervention effects
- Rathje, Van Bavel & van der Linden (2021) — Out-group animosity drives engagement on social media — Demonstrates affective polarization predicts content engagement more than emotional valence alone
- Van der Linden (2022) — Misinformation: susceptibility, spread, and interventions to immunize the public — Integrates psychological susceptibility factors with network spread dynamics
- Lewandowsky & van der Linden (2021) — Countering misinformation and fake news through inoculation and prebunking — Applies psychological inoculation theory to misinformation resistance