At Least Bias Is Bipartisan: A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Partisan Bias in Liberals and Conservatives

Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science
Peter H DittoJoanne F Zinger

Abstract

Both liberals and conservatives accuse their political opponents of partisan bias, but is there empirical evidence that one side of the political aisle is indeed more biased than the other? To address this question, we meta-analyzed the results of 51 experimental studies, involving over 18,000 participants, that examined one form of partisan bias-the tendency to evaluate otherwise identical information more favorably when it supports one's political beliefs or allegiances than when it challenges those beliefs or allegiances. Two hypotheses based on previous literature were tested: an asymmetry hypothesis (predicting greater partisan bias in conservatives than in liberals) and a symmetry hypothesis (predicting equal levels of partisan bias in liberals and conservatives). Mean overall partisan bias was robust ( r = .245), and there was strong support for the symmetry hypothesis: Liberals ( r = .235) and conservatives ( r = .255) showed no difference in mean levels of bias across studies. Moderator analyses reveal this pattern to be consistent across a number of different methodological variations and political topics. Implications of the current findings for the ongoing ideological symmetry debate and the role of partisan bias in...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 7, 2019·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Jonathan Baron, John T Jost
Jan 30, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Gordon Pennycook, David G Rand
Mar 7, 2019·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Peter H DittoJoanne F Zinger
Mar 19, 2019·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Artur NilssonDaniel Västfjäll
Dec 22, 2019·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Paul H P Hanel, Lukas J Wolf
Feb 23, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Cory J ClarkRoy F Baumeister
Nov 21, 2019·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Patrick S Forscher, Nour S Kteily
Oct 31, 2020·Science·Eli J FinkelJames N Druckman
Feb 18, 2021·Public Understanding of Science·Roderik Rekker
Feb 23, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Adam MooreLaura Cram
Feb 23, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Ullrich K H EckerMatthew Andreotta
Mar 16, 2021·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Shauna M BowesScott O Lilienfeld
May 12, 2020·Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences·Gordon Heltzel, Kristin Laurin
Mar 20, 2021·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Gordon Pennycook, David G Rand
Apr 6, 2021·Synthese·Uwe Peters, Nikolaj Nottelmann
Apr 11, 2021·Translational Behavioral Medicine·Chandra KellerElaine Collier
Apr 20, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Robert Brotherton, Lisa K Son
Jun 3, 2021·Psychological Science·Madalina VlasceanuAlin Coman
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Jul 5, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Zak R WebberBenjamin W Abbott
Oct 2, 2021·Public Understanding of Science·Fabian HutmacherMarkus Appel

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