Curious and Confused Minds: Unravelling the Ideological Differences of Epistemic Emotions and their Effect on Selective Attention

Selective attention poses a challenge to informed judgment among voters, potentially exacerbating political polarisation (Iyengar & Hahn, 2009). The relationship between ideological orientation and selective attention has been the subject of much debate in the scientific community. This thesis seeks to clarify this relationship by examining epistemic emotions within that context. Participants (N = 202) responded to headlines, differing on political orientation of statements and complexity, and were given the choice to further engage with the corresponding article. I find no ideological differences in selectivity of ideologically congruent information, but right-leaning individuals avoided incongruent information more than leftists. The data also points to an ideological asymmetry of the experience of epistemic emotions, which is surprisingly conditioned by the complexity of headlines. Rightists felt more confused than leftists only towards simple incongruent headlines. Further,...Show moreSelective attention poses a challenge to informed judgment among voters, potentially exacerbating political polarisation (Iyengar & Hahn, 2009). The relationship between ideological orientation and selective attention has been the subject of much debate in the scientific community. This thesis seeks to clarify this relationship by examining epistemic emotions within that context. Participants (N = 202) responded to headlines, differing on political orientation of statements and complexity, and were given the choice to further engage with the corresponding article. I find no ideological differences in selectivity of ideologically congruent information, but right-leaning individuals avoided incongruent information more than leftists. The data also points to an ideological asymmetry of the experience of epistemic emotions, which is surprisingly conditioned by the complexity of headlines. Rightists felt more confused than leftists only towards simple incongruent headlines. Further, leftists reported higher curiosity in incongruent complex headlines, which mediated the relationship of ideology and choosing to engage with those headlines. Implications of cognitive style differences reflected in differing experience of epistemic emotions are discussed. Further research is needed to clarify the role of the complexity of political messaging style information on information processing in ideologues.Show less

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Curious and Confused Minds: Unravelling the Ideological Differences of Epistemic Emotions and their Effect on Selective Attention