A Theory of Rational Attitude Polarization

42 Pages Posted: 23 Nov 2014

See all articles by Jean-Pierre Benoit

Jean-Pierre Benoit

London Business School - Department of Economics

Juan Dubra

University of Montevideo - Department of Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 20, 2014

Abstract

Numerous experiments have demonstrated the possibility of attitude polarization. For instance, Lord, Ross & Lepper (1979) partitioned subjects into two groups, according to whether or not they believed the death penalty had a deterrent effect, and presented them with a set of studies on the issue. Those who believed there was a deterrent effect became more convinced of this effect while skeptics became more convinced there was no effect; that is, the population polarized. Many scholars have concluded that attitude polarization shows that people process information in a biased manner. We argue that not only is attitude polarization consistent with an unbiased evaluation of evidence, it is to be expected in many circumstances where it arises. Moreover, our theory predicts the absence of polarization under certain conditions, as some experiments find.

Keywords: Attitude Polarization, Confirmation Bias, Bayesian Decision Making

JEL Classification: D11, D12, D82, D83

Suggested Citation

Benoit, Jean-Pierre and Dubra, Juan, A Theory of Rational Attitude Polarization (November 20, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2529494 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2529494

Jean-Pierre Benoit

London Business School - Department of Economics ( email )

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Juan Dubra (Contact Author)

University of Montevideo - Department of Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http:\\www2.um.edu.uy\dubraj

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