A tale of two peoples: motivated reasoning in the aftermath of the Brexit Vote
Open accessAbstract
Partisanship is a powerful driver of economic perceptions. Yet we know less about whether other political divisions may lead to similar evaluative biases. In this paper, we explore how the salient divide between “Remainers” and “Leavers” in the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum has given rise to biased economic perceptions. In line with the cognitive dissonance framework, we argue that salient non-partisan divisions can change economic perceptions by triggering processes of self- and in-group justification. Using both nationally-representative observational and experimental survey data, we demonstrate that the perceptions of the economy are shaped by the Brexit divide and that these biases are exacerbated when respondents are reminded of Brexit. These findings indicate that perceptual biases are not always rooted in partisanship, but can be triggered by other political divisions.
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In the UK Brexit referendum, both supporters and opponents exhibited ego-justifying and group-justifying biases that increased issue polarization on economic matters.
“Both sides exhibited ego-justifying and group-justifying biases that increased issue polarization on economic matters335, and high levels of affective polarization ensued336.”
From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [335]
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Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts
Jost, J. T., Baldassarri, D. S., & Druckman, J. N. (2022) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-022-00093-5 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sorace, M., & Hobolt, S. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Kent (GB)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Sorace, Miriam
- Venue
- Political Science Research and Methods
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2020-12-22
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 675-692
- ISSN
- 2049-8470 (ISSN-L)
- 2049-8489
- OpenAlex
- W3036163992
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 16.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orcid.org
- Locations
- Political Science Research and Methods (publishedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- motivated reasoning, Brexit referendum, economic perceptions, cognitive dissonance, self-justification, political division
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