PREVIEW

Language Is Fueling the US Political Divide, Studies Reveal. PsyPost reports that a recent series of studies suggests that the way political opinions are expressed can amplify perceived political differences. According to findings published in the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS), generalized statements contribute to increased public polarization. Study author Gustavo Novoa, a PhD candidate in political science at Columbia University, and his colleagues conducted a series of three studies on the impact of generic language. The first of the studies looked to investigate how endorsements of generic political statements could influence how people perceive political polarization. The second study looked at people's ability to recall political information, particularly the tendency to remember quantified statements as generics. The third study explored how polarized judgments emerge from exposure to generic statements about political parties versus quantified statements. PsyPost reports that the findings reveal the powerful role of language on political discourse. According to Novoa, the findings are evidence: "that the use of generic language, common in everyday speech, has the potential to be interpreted to mean extreme prevalences where they might not exist.". Novoa explains that "you might find examples in the media that argue that Democratic voters are in favor of raising taxes. This is true only in the sense that Democratic voters favor raising taxes at a greater rate than Republican voters. "In reality, neither Republican nor Democrat voters support higher taxes. However, you make the statement that Democrats support higher taxes and Republicans do not, most people will agree when surveyed." Gustavo Novoa, study author and PhD candidate in political science at Columbia University, via PsyPost. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT