Political Beliefs Research Articles

Reconsidering Fromm and feminisms, part II: a case for psychosocial compatibilities

This article continues an earlier one about how the work of Erich Fromm and feminist theories are compatible despite the connection usually remaining overlooked. Drawing on Fromm’s critique of Freud’s analysis of Dora, but also going further, I argue that associating Fromm and contemporary feminist thought is particularly important in the context of growing authoritarianism on the right and sometimes as reflected also on the left. The article elaborates upon five points of ‘psychosocial compatibility’ between Fromm’s humanistic vision and the ideas of several well-known feminist theorists including Simone de Beauvoir, Nancy Chodorow, Jessica Benjamin and others. The five points of psychosocial compatibility addressed between From and contemporary feminisms as addressed here are: connecting the personal and the political while stressing the prefigurative; kindred issues concerning objectification and self-love; emphases on relatedness and the pre-oedipal stage of human development; concerns about multi-dimensionality and intersectionality; and shared political beliefs aimed at overcoming gender and other oppressive inequalities

'Political Role in Journalism': Issues and Challenges in Nepal and Beyond

This paper examines the intricate connection between politics and journalism, highlighting the difficulties and effects of political influence on journalistic practices. The study shows, through a review of the, statement of problem, study of object and literature, that political beliefs have a major influence on media narratives, which frequently results in skewed reporting. The study is dependence of self-censorship, especially in authoritarian regimes. The crucial role that journalism plays in influencing public opinion and its consequences for democratic processes are also covered in this essay. It also draws attention to the difficulties that journalists encounter in politically delicate situations, such as censorship, physical threats, and legal constraints. The results highlight the necessity for journalistic independence and integrity to support democratic processes, as well as the dual role that media plays as a safeguard for democracy and a possible conduit for political influence. The study highlights the role that independent journalism plays in defending democratic norms in Nepal and notes the challenges that journalists confront in upholding impartiality and moral standards in the face of political polarization.

Status of Elderly People in Chandragiri Municipality of Kathmandu

This paper examines the intricate connection between politics and journalism, highlighting the difficulties and effects of political influence on journalistic practices. The study shows, through a review of the, statement of problem, study of object and literature, that political beliefs have a major influence on media narratives, which frequently results in skewed reporting. The study is dependence of self-censorship, especially in authoritarian regimes. The crucial role that journalism plays in influencing public opinion and its consequencesfor democratic processes are also covered in this essay. It also draws attention to the difficulties that journalists encounter in politically delicate situations, such as censorship, physical threats, and legal constraints. The results highlight the necessity for journalistic independence and integrity to support democratic processes, as well as the dual role that media plays as a safeguard for democracy and a possible conduit for political influence. The study highlights the role that independent journalism plays in defending democratic norms in Nepal and notes the challenges that journalists confront in upholding impartiality and moral standards in the face of political polarization.

The elephant in the room? Considerations of politics among older adult daters

AbstractA sharply polarized political climate may increase the importance single adults place on politics in partner selection. While the importance of politics in dating decisions is not surprising in light of homophily, less is known about how older adults consider political differences in partnering. We answer two questions about older daters and politics: (1) How do older adult daters consider potential partners' political views? and (2) How do perceptions of rising political polarization shape these preferences? We use interview data with 67 adults (aged 55–92) from the Romance and Dating in Later Life study, conducted in Phoenix, AZ, in 2022–2023. Findings show politics are highly salient in partner selection across gender, class, and ideology, suggesting older singles place substantial importance on political views when choosing partners. Many older singles prioritize shared beliefs, while others practice open‐mindedness. Extremist politics, particularly right‐leaning, are viewed as a significant barrier to dating. This study demonstrates how older daters consider political beliefs in dating decisions, particularly considering perceptions of rising polarization. This contributes to research highlighting the role of political ideology in shaping dating decisions by extending the research to include explicit study of mid‐ and late‐life adults, whose dating experiences differ from young adult singles.

Megastudy testing 25 treatments to reduce antidemocratic attitudes and partisan animosity.

Scholars warn that partisan divisions in the mass public threaten the health of American democracy. We conducted a megastudy (n = 32,059 participants) testing 25 treatments designed by academics and practitioners to reduce Americans' partisan animosity and antidemocratic attitudes. We find that many treatments reduced partisan animosity, most strongly by highlighting relatable sympathetic individuals with different political beliefs or by emphasizing common identities shared by rival partisans. We also identify several treatments that reduced support for undemocratic practices-most strongly by correcting misperceptions of rival partisans' views or highlighting the threat of democratic collapse-which shows that antidemocratic attitudes are not intractable. Taken together, the study's findings identify promising general strategies for reducing partisan division and improving democratic attitudes, shedding theoretical light on challenges facing American democracy.

Public Goods, Expressive Values, and Protest Participation: Evidence From a Conjoint Experiment in Hong Kong

In recent decades, there has been a revival of contentious social movements worldwide. Given the collective action problem, what factors motivate ordinary citizens to join protests? If the issue of a protest matters, what factors motivate people to weigh different issues differently? This paper devises a unified theory of collective action and argues that individuals are more likely to join a protest when they perceive higher values of the public good, higher expressive benefits, higher expected turnouts, and lower costs of participation. It contends that the effects of those factors are moderated by individuals’ post-materialist values and confidence in future personal freedom. Employing an online conjoint survey experiment to analyze protest participation among citizens in Hong Kong, this paper finds that protesters are more driven by liberal-democratic issues than socioeconomic issues. The findings highlight the mechanisms through which political beliefs increase protest participation. Political beliefs change the effects of public goods associated with certain issues, and to some extent alter the cost-benefit calculations of potential protesters.

Intellectual Humility and Belief Extremity: Evidence for Curvilinearity?

Because an intellectually humble person is neither diffident nor arrogant in their views, intellectual humility (IH) is considered a virtuous mean. Yet, evidence for the virtuous mean account is mixed, with some studies finding evidence for it and some studies finding evidence against it. To clarify these ambiguities, we examined the curvilinear relations between multiple IH conceptualizations and belief strength across political, religious, and irreligious beliefs. In a secondary analysis of more than 4,000 participants, there was evidence for the virtuous mean account for political beliefs, evidence against it for religious beliefs, and little evidence for irreligious beliefs. Altogether, these results raise the possibility that the virtuous mean account of IH is not as generalizable as originally presumed. Thus, instead of asking whether IH is a virtuous mean, future research should ask when, why, and how IH is a virtuous mean for some beliefs and not for others.

The Moderating Role of Affective Polarization on Party Cues: The Case of the Prostitution Ban

Affective polarization is a recent yet widespread phenomenon in democracies that significantly impacts various aspects of politics. In this paper, we argue that it can also shape citizens’ political beliefs through party cues. Using a panel survey experiment in Spain, we examine the extent to which partisan signals influence citizens’ attitudes toward a non-party- branded issue, specifically the ban on prostitution, and how affective polarization moderates this effect. Our results underscore the role of affective polarization in moderating the influence of partisan cues, particularly among highly polarized individuals. These findings highlight the capacity of affective polarization not only to deepen political divisions but also to expand the scope of partisan influence to non-politicized and neutral issues, offering new insights into its potential impact on attitude formation and decision-making.

Generational Factors Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Completion for Americans of Mexican Decent Living along the United States-Mexico Border Region.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 vaccine uptake variation remains a significant barrier to overcoming the spread of COVID-19. Individual beliefs/attitudes about the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine vary significantly across generations due to personal experiences, access to accurate information, education levels, political beliefs, and trust in healthcare systems. Methods: This analysis used data from the baseline visit of Project 2VIDA!, a cohort of Americans of Mexican descent (AoDM) and African American individuals (n = 1052) in San Diego, CA, along the U.S.-Mexico border region. The survey assessed sociodemographics, healthcare access, socioeconomic factors, and trust in public health information/SARS-CoV-2 prevention. We conducted a logistic regression involving AoDM individuals to identify generational factors associated with completing the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine series. Results: The results of the logistic regression analysis revealed that Generation X (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.33-0.82), Millennials (OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.14-0.41), and Generation Z (OR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.05-0.22) were less likely to complete the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine series when compared to Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation. Conclusions: Participants with a history of SARS-CoV-2 testing and trust in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine were significantly more likely to complete the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine series. Efforts to address vaccine series completion should be tailored to the specific concerns and motivations of different age groups.

Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences

ABSTRACT This study explores selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand. Existing research suggests that selective news avoidance rates are high in Aotearoa New Zealand (Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2023. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy., Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2024. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy.) but we know little about why this is and if reasons for avoiding the news differ depending on the type of news consumer. Drawing from a nationally representative survey of 1204 participants, this study explores the relationships between news avoidance, motivations and demographic factors. We confirm the high rates of selective news avoidance and report that Aotearoa New Zealand has high rates of consistent news avoiders. New Zealanders’ primary motivations to avoid the news are because of how the news negatively affects their well-being, or because they do not trust the news, or are turned off by the quality of news reporting. We also find that gender and political beliefs are associated with the frequency of and motivations for news avoidance. We discuss why New Zealand has high rates of selective and consistent news avoidance, as well as the implications, and furthermore why women, and people with very left-wing or very right-wing political beliefs may avoid the news more frequently than other groups.

Evaluating the Influence of Role-Playing Prompts on ChatGPT's Misinformation Detection Accuracy: Quantitative Study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid spread of misinformation on social media created significant public health challenges. Large language models (LLMs), pretrained on extensive textual data, have shown potential in detecting misinformation, but their performance can be influenced by factors such as prompt engineering (ie, modifying LLM requests to assess changes in output). One form of prompt engineering is role-playing, where, upon request, OpenAI's ChatGPT imitates specific social roles or identities. This research examines how ChatGPT's accuracy in detecting COVID-19-related misinformation is affected when it is assigned social identities in the request prompt. Understanding how LLMs respond to different identity cues can inform messaging campaigns, ensuring effective use in public health communications. This study investigates the impact of role-playing prompts on ChatGPT's accuracy in detecting misinformation. This study also assesses differences in performance when misinformation is explicitly stated versus implied, based on contextual knowledge, and examines the reasoning given by ChatGPT for classification decisions. Overall, 36 real-world tweets about COVID-19 collected in September 2021 were categorized into misinformation, sentiment (opinions aligned vs unaligned with public health guidelines), corrections, and neutral reporting. ChatGPT was tested with prompts incorporating different combinations of multiple social identities (ie, political beliefs, education levels, locality, religiosity, and personality traits), resulting in 51,840 runs. Two control conditions were used to compare results: prompts with no identities and those including only political identity. The findings reveal that including social identities in prompts reduces average detection accuracy, with a notable drop from 68.1% (SD 41.2%; no identities) to 29.3% (SD 31.6%; all identities included). Prompts with only political identity resulted in the lowest accuracy (19.2%, SD 29.2%). ChatGPT was also able to distinguish between sentiments expressing opinions not aligned with public health guidelines from misinformation making declarative statements. There were no consistent differences in performance between explicit and implicit misinformation requiring contextual knowledge. While the findings show that the inclusion of identities decreased detection accuracy, it remains uncertain whether ChatGPT adopts views aligned with social identities: when assigned a conservative identity, ChatGPT identified misinformation with nearly the same accuracy as it did when assigned a liberal identity. While political identity was mentioned most frequently in ChatGPT's explanations for its classification decisions, the rationales for classifications were inconsistent across study conditions, and contradictory explanations were provided in some instances. These results indicate that ChatGPT's ability to classify misinformation is negatively impacted when role-playing social identities, highlighting the complexity of integrating human biases and perspectives in LLMs. This points to the need for human oversight in the use of LLMs for misinformation detection. Further research is needed to understand how LLMs weigh social identities in prompt-based tasks and explore their application in different cultural contexts.

Climate change as fake news. Positive attribute framing as a tactic against corporate reputation damage from the evaluations of sceptical, right-wing audiences

PurposeThe paper aims to examine whether CSR communication about a company’s support for climate change created using different content framing categories (positive vs negative) can lead climate change-sceptical audiences to positively influence their evaluations of the credibility of CSR communication, of a company and its actions, and lead to higher purchase intentions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper used an experimental design. About 266 respondents recruited via the Prolific platform were invited to participate in an online study. A between-subject design was used, and data was analysed using the bootstrapping technique, allowing to identify moderators of the relationship between CSR communication framing and different evaluations of a company.FindingsThe paper provides empirical support for the role of political preferences and climate change beliefs in predicting the preference for positive attribute framing among climate change sceptical audiences. It is argued that climate change sceptics are still in the process of deliberation about whether climate change is occurring.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings may not be generalizable to countries where support for climate change is low, and a technique like attribute framing may not lead to noticeable differences in message reception.Practical implicationsThe paper underscores the impact of the type of attribute framing in CSR communication on different aspects of company evaluations depending on beliefs in climate change. Commercial communicators should additionally invest in climate change education to address the climate change challenge.Social implications Addressing climate change effectively requires support from companies to communicate their CSR efforts purposefully and to address climate change sceptical audiences.Originality/valueThe paper identifies beliefs in climate change as an important moderator of CSR communication attribute framing effectiveness.

“We Met in a Place that Fostered Exploring”: Campus Environments that Influence Boundary-Crossing Friendships

AbstractThe college years represent a prime opportunity for students to develop prosocial skills through friendships that cross social boundaries (i.e., in which the two friends differ on at least one aspect of sociocultural identity such as race, political affiliation, or religion). By cultivating empathy and reducing social stratification, these friendships may serve as a needed remedy for the ongoing and deepening tribalism dominating the current U.S. political climate, ultimately advancing a more justice-oriented society. We utilized data from 55 focus groups with 268 participants at 18 U.S. institutions of various sizes, locations, and affiliations to explore how campus environments and experiences influence college students’ boundary-crossing friendships. Participants highlighted how aspects of their campus climates (size, structural diversity, norms, and identity support) encouraged as well as discouraged crossing social boundaries. They discussed how programs (curricular and co-curricular), spaces (residence and dining halls, prayer spaces), and informal social opportunities (such as studying, dining, socializing, or having meaningful conversations) helped them develop and deepen friendships across the social boundaries of religious, secular, and spiritual (RSS) identity; political beliefs; race/ethnicity; and other identities. They also described the power of early campus experiences in setting the stage for crossing social boundaries. Our findings add texture to prior quantitative research documenting the power of campus conditions and environments for fostering friendship across social boundaries, and they illuminate effective ways for colleges and universities to create environments and experiences that provide students with opportunities and reasons to connect and build friendships that bridge social divisions.

Stance detection: a practical guide to classifying political beliefs in text

Abstract Stance detection is identifying expressed beliefs in a document. While researchers widely use sentiment analysis for this, recent research demonstrates that sentiment and stance are distinct. This paper advances text analysis methods by precisely defining stance detection and outlining three approaches: supervised classification, natural language inference, and in-context learning. I discuss how document context and trade-offs between resources and workload should inform your methods. For all three approaches I provide guidance on application and validation techniques, as well as coding tutorials for implementation. Finally, I demonstrate how newer classification approaches can replicate supervised classifiers.

The policy basis of group sentiments

Abstract Although influential models of public opinion hold that group sentiments play an important role in shaping political beliefs, they often assume that group attitudes stem from socialization and are thus exogenous to politics. We challenge this assumption, arguing that group attitudes may themselves be the consequence of political views. Across three survey experiments that each uses a unique social group–issue pair, we consistently demonstrate that attitudes toward groups are influenced by information about the groups' policy views. These findings persist even when accounting for potential partisan signaling. Altogether, these results show that group sentiments should not be regarded as wholly exogenous to policy concerns and suggest that the use of group-based heuristics can be consistent with instrumental models of public opinion.

Does the Losing Side Lose the Democratic Faith? Partisan Media Flow and Democratic Values During the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between partisan media consumption and changes in democratic values during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. By integrating self-reported news consumption data with the partisan slant of news outlets, we explore how different media environments shape voters’ attitudes about democracy. Our analysis of a two-wave panel survey conducted before and after the election reveals significant changes in democratic values among general voters, including both Biden and Trump supporters. The findings also highlight the complex effects of a polarized media ecosystem on political beliefs, demonstrating that partisan media flow influences democratic values beyond the traditional winner-loser dichotomy.

Childfreeness in Poland – group description and reasons behind not wanting to have children

Childfreeness remains a largely unexplored subject in Poland. We provide insights into the scale of childlessness by choice and the motivations and characteristics of childfree people in the country. We conducted a quantitative study (national stratified random sample, n = 665, age 18–50 (M = 34.14, SD = 9.22), October 2021) and a qualitative exploration (n = 461, age 18–58 (M = 29.07, SD = 7.01), May 2020–January 2021). The quantitative analyses revealed that 14.89% of adult Poles of reproductive age did not have children and were not planning to have them. The decision not to have children was significantly predicted by lower age and left-wing political and liberal social beliefs. The qualitative analyses showed that the most common reasons for being childfree were lack of parental instinct (I do not feel the maternal instinct), not liking children (I cannot stand children) and desire for autonomy (I want to be independent). The results suggest that the Polish childfree population is substantial and diverse in their reasons for not wanting to have children.

Modernization of Hanunuo Millennials: A Qualitative Ethnographic Study

As one generation comes after the other, the Hanunuo millennials encountered a social change in different aspects of their lives. This is a descriptive qualitative study using ethnography which aims to determine the modernization of the millennials in the eyes of the Hanunuo elders in terms of lifestyle, marriage set-up and political beliefs. The researcher used as data collection methods, participant observations triangulated with interviews and key informant interviews. Evidence was collected in the form of taped interviews and field notes. The researcher used codes for the raw information and categorized the data. Sociocultural theory asserts how culture and society molded the social life of Hanunuo Mangyan who were born the way they are. The study showed that the Hanunuo millennials have been preserving their culture by educating the Hanunuo youth on their respective learning center despite of modernization. As every generation has its own identity, Hanunuo millennials are fond of using different technologies which create a new order of life in modern time. It is therefore recommended that the Local Government Unit should be vigilant and be supportive to the sociocultural development of this particular cultural community.

Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccination Among Organ Transplant Recipients

BackgroundUnderstanding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in organ transplant recipients (OTRs) is critical given clear—albeit attenuated—benefits from vaccination. MethodsAdult OTRs were surveyed regarding sociodemographic data, medical history, and vaccine-related values. A novel outcome variable called the Vaccine Acceptance Composite Score (VACS) was built as the average Likert score of seven domains of vaccine confidence. To examine its association with several factors and individual adherence to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, univariable odds ratios and relative operating characteristic areas under the curve (AUC) values were calculated. ResultsOf 46 OTRs included, 32.6% identified as female, 13.3% as Black, and 6.77% as Hispanic or Latino/a/x. The median age was 58 years old. 93.5% of patients were kidney transplant recipients, and 63.0% previously had COVID-19. Patients were most concerned about COVID-19 vaccine-associated risks (46.3%), its potential effect on allograft (47.6%), and motives of government officials involved with vaccine policy (55.6%). Politically conservative patients were likelier to have lower VACS, whereas those who lived with someone ≥65 years old were likelier to have higher VACS. The VACS was not significantly associated with race, income, religious beliefs, comorbidities, COVID-19 history, or influenza vaccination status. Higher VACS was associated with ≥3 and ≥4 COVID-19 immunizations. ConclusionsThis study highlighted political beliefs and elderly household members as correlates of vaccine acceptance among OTRs. The VACS may be a useful tool to help standardize multifaceted analyses in vaccination-focused behavioral research. In clinical practice, it could help identify individuals and groups at risk for vaccine hesitancy, who may benefit from tailored outreach and educational interventions.

Problematic aspects of attorney’s participation in pre-trial investigation under martial law

According to Article 59 of the Constitution of Ukraine, everyone has the right to legal aid. In cases provided for by law, this assistance is provided free of charge. Everyone is free to choose a defender of their rights. The Bar operates in Ukraine to ensure the right to defense against accusations and to provide legal assistance in resolving cases in courts and other state bodies. These provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine are duplicated in Article 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. According to this provision, a suspect, accused, acquitted, or convicted person has the right to defense, which consists in providing him or her with the opportunity to provide oral or written explanations regarding the suspicion or accusation, the right to collect and submit evidence, to participate personally in criminal proceedings, to use legal assistance of a defense counsel, and to exercise other procedural rights provided for by the CPC of Ukraine. Thus, the direct duty of law enforcement agencies is to protect the legitimate rights and freedoms of a person regardless of his or her gender, nationality, language, citizenship, age, social origin, political beliefs, etc. At the same time, the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of a suspect, accused, defendant, acquitted person, a person in respect of whom compulsory medical or educational measures are to be applied or the issue of their application in criminal proceedings is being decided, a person in respect of whom extradition to a foreign state is being considered, as well as a person being brought to administrative responsibility during the consideration of an administrative offense case is carried out by an advocate. This is, in particular, stated in the Law of Ukraine «On the Bar and Practice of Law» № 5076-VI of July 05, 2012. Taking into account the above provisions, it is important to identify and analyze the problematic aspects of the participation of an attorney-at-law in pre-trial investigation in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine in the context of the introduction of martial law in Ukraine (Decree of the President of Ukraine «On the Introduction of Martial Law in Ukraine» approved by the Law of Ukraine of February 24, 2022 № 2102-IX).