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The Wilders divide : judgment in Dutch politics

Leenheer, Rinze (2010) The Wilders divide : judgment in Dutch politics.

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Abstract:This research looked at the effect of motivated reasoning on the way people judge information from politicians in the Netherlands. Participants were presented with pairs of conflicting statements made by Geert Wilders. They were then asked to rate these inconsistencies from severe to not severe at all. Results show that participants who had positive feelings about Geert Wilders rated consistencies as less severe than people who felt neutral about him. People who felt negatively about Wilders rated the inconsistencies more severe then both other groups. These findings are in line with previous research done in America, and show that when strong feelings are involved people tend to use motivated reasoning instead of cold cognitive reasoning. Results also show that when faced with favorable or unfavorable information, when strong feelings are involved it does not matter if this information comes from a favorable or unfavorable source. In this case prior attitudes overshadow any effects that source might play.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology MSc (66604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/60473
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