??Psychological Reactance and Polarization: Causes, Consequences and Solutions?

Bidragets beskrivning

The project "Reactance and Polarization: Causes, Consequences and Solutions" at the Åbo Akademi University, investigates if psychological reactance causes polarization, that is, makes people's opinions more extreme. Reactance occurs when we feel that our freedom of choice has been threatened. This can happen, for example, when someone tries to persuade us. Reactance can cause us to do the opposite of what we have been persuaded to do or make us question whether the persuader can be trusted. In the present project, we conduct online experiments to explore if this reaction can explain why opinions become polarized and why people develop negative attitudes towards those who disagree with them. As far as we know, this has not been studied before. If reactance turns out to be a reason behind polarization, we will test if we can prevent the development of polarization by reducing reactance. This information can improve societal discussions about controversial topics.
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Startår

2024

Slutår

2028

Beviljade finansiering

Anna Soveri Orcid -palvelun logo
494 580 €

Finansiär

Finlands Akademi

Typ av finansiering

Akademiprojekt

Päättäjä

Forskningsrådet för kultur och samhälle
13.06.2024

Övriga uppgifter

Finansieringsbeslutets nummer

362431

Vetenskapsområden

Psykologi

Forskningsområden

Psykologia