There are plenty of reasons why political disputes can be divisive, and a host of psychological mechanisms that contribute to a preference for one's own views,
For one thing, political preferences aren't just reasoned opinions; they're often markers of personal and cultural
identity with strong emotional resonance. For another, we tend to expose ourselves to sources that support our
own views, reinforcing rather than challenging our beliefs.
An article forthcoming in the journal Cognitive Science adds another mechanism into the mix: We're more critical
of arguments offered by others than of those we produce ourselves. Authors Emmanuel Trouche, Petter
Johansson, Lars Hall and Hugo Mercier describe this as the "selective laziness of reasoning." We reserve effortful
scrutiny for others and often give ourselves a free pass.
To test this idea, the researchers exploited a phenomenon known as choice blindness: Under the right conditions,