Political polarization and objectivity illusion

Two studies conducted during the 2016 US presidential election involving more than 2,500 participants documented an "objectivity illusion," in which both sides of the political divide perceived individuals who shared their respective views as more objective and less biased than adversaries in evaluations of both average Americans and the author of a fictitious partisan blog; participants' initial levels of the objectivity illusion was tied to polarization, biased perceptions of presidential debates, and outgroup denigration, with a self-reinforcing bias in information processing deepening the ideological divide.

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Article #19-12301: "The objectivity illusion and voter polarization in the 2016 presidential election," by Michael C. Schwalbe, Geoffrey L. Cohen, and Lee D. Ross.

MEDIA CONTACT: Michael C. Schwalbe, Stanford University, CA; e-mail: schwalbe@stanford.edu