Cognitive underpinnings of nationalistic ideology in the context of Brexit
Top Cited Papers
- 19 April 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 115 (19) , E4532-E4540
Abstract
Significance: Belief in rigid distinctions between the nationalistic ingroup and outgroup has been a motivating force in citizens’ voting behavior, as evident in the United Kingdom’s 2016 EU referendum. We found that individuals with strongly nationalistic attitudes tend to process information in a more categorical manner, even when tested on neutral cognitive tasks that are unrelated to their political beliefs. The relationship between these psychological characteristics and strong nationalistic attitudes was mediated by a tendency to support authoritarian, nationalistic, conservative, and system-justifying ideologies. This suggests flexible cognitive styles are related to less nationalistic identities and attitudes.Keywords
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