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Political Science Professor Talks Bias and Perception of Political Misconduct

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Ryan Claassen, professor of political science
Ryan Claassen, Ph.D., professor of political science at 妖姬直播 State University, conducted research during the fall semester finding that American voters think politicians view situations differently depending on party affiliation. Claassen鈥檚 research was recently featured in an article from the Record-Courier. 

For instance, as mentioned in the article during a football game, fans of the home team watch the referees decide a penalty against their team. The fans of the home team will protest the call, while fans of the opposing team will believe the call is fair. This is an example of motivated reasoning, where people make emotionally-biased decisions that do not accurately reflect what occurs. 

鈥淢otivated reasoning is sort of a basic human thing,鈥 Claassen told the Record-Courier. 鈥淲e seem more or less hardwired to identify with groups and process information in a way that favors 鈥榠n鈥 groups and disfavors 鈥榦ut鈥 groups.鈥

To understand how members of both parties view politics through motivated reasoning, Claassen told the Record-Courier that he administered surveys asking voters how they feel about party leaders manipulating voting machines to that party鈥檚 advantage at certain polling locations. 

鈥淚nterestingly, what we find when we compare people across groups is that they have fairly lukewarm disapproval of these tactics,鈥 Claassen said.

To read more about Claassen鈥檚 conclusions, read the full story here:

POSTED: Wednesday, January 27, 2021 06:34 AM
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2022 01:43 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Brady Warmbein