The emergence of polarised groups through source filtering - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - The emergence of polarised groups through source filtering

In a new paper, we find that judging facts by messenger rather than content leads to polarising belief packages (e.g. latte liberals, leftist support for wind power, rightist for nuclear). Worryingly, recommender algorithms use this strategy. No need to read the paper; you can just trust me on this.

How to convince others of what’s right and wrong: here is a popular-science press release presenting the findings from our latest paper. Arguments that don’t fit are filtered out, while those that connect to what already exists in your belief system get through and can force a reassessment.

Susceptibility to Moral Arguments Among Liberals and Conservatives Abstract. An empirical result in Moral Foundations Theory is that liberals and progressives endorse the individualizing factors of care and fairness, while

Despite the current state of politics, moral views have become more progressive over time. Why? In an experiment we found that the arguments that make liberals more liberal also persuade conservatives, whereas the arguments that make conservatives more conservative don't persuade liberals.

Postdoctoral Researcher in psychology/cognitive science with focus on social learning and cultural evolution Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research? The Mechanisms of Social Behavior lab at the Karolinska Institutet (PI: Björn Lindström) in Stockholm, Sweden is seeking a highly qualified

💥New postdoc position! 💥

Join us to explore how people learn from each other—and how that drives cultural evolution.

Run experiments, build computational models & collaborate across Europe w. @lucasmolleman.bsky.social
📍 Stockholm
More info: shorturl.at/CY4wk

We're employing several PhD students in maths with opportunities to work on cultural evolution, societal consequences of AI, polarisation, discrimination and large language models. Apply by 6 May or please help us spread the message!

So, the spread of this post hinges more on whether, where and how I write it than on your attitude towards posts such as these.

Our new paper suggests that transmissible sender characteristics, such as the ability to persuade people and communicate effectively, might play a more significant role in cultural evolution than how we learn and from whom.