New research published in 2016 shows that when people believe that others not only have different beliefs, but also false beliefs, they experience stronger negative emotions and are more likely to avoid others. political psychology.
Researchers have long pointed to a concept called “belief homophily” to explain why societies divide along ideological lines. Homosexual beliefs refer to the idea that people prefer to be with people who think like them and dislike encountering views that differ from their own. This trend has been used to explain phenomena such as why social media feeds become “echo chambers” filled with feel-good content. But new research challenges the idea that disagreement itself is the main problem.
Researchers argue that people may be more tolerant of disagreement when they are unsure of who is right. Even more frustrating is the assumption that others have a false view of reality. Researchers speculate that this is because false beliefs threaten our sense of common reality, undermine our innate desire to understand the world, and cause us to fear that others will make wrong decisions with harmful consequences. The authors say this distinction may help explain why some disagreements are emotionally charged while others remain relatively benign.
To test this theory, Andras Molnar of the University of Michigan and George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University led a study. Researchers examined the responses of 2,027 U.S. adults through four online surveys. The final sample had an average age of approximately 39 years and included 969 women and 1,058 men. Participants were asked to recall real-life disagreements, react to hypothetical scenarios, and respond to social media posts that contradicted their own opinions.
In the first two studies, participants recalled disagreements in their own lives. People who viewed the other person’s beliefs as “wrong” reported being significantly more upset, irritated, distraught, and less calm than those who viewed the disagreement as simply a “difference in perspective.” Importantly, the more convinced a person is that the other person is wrong, the stronger the negative emotional response will be. Conversely, the belief that beliefs are simply “different” did not predict negative emotional responses.
The researchers found similar results in subsequent experiments. In one study, participants expressed their opinions on divisive topics such as climate change, vaccinations, and police enforcement, then read hypothetical social media posts expressing opposing views. People who believed the poster held a false belief reported greater distress and were more likely to block or avoid interacting with the poster. They were also significantly less willing to imagine having them as neighbors, colleagues, family members, or lovers.
In our final experiment, we tested whether we could influence responses simply by changing the framing of the disagreement. Participants read the same scenario, but some were reminded that the other person’s beliefs were “different,” while others were reminded that their beliefs were “wrong.” Even this subtle change increases feelings of upheaval, suggesting that false perceptions can intensify emotional responses, independent of the discrepancy itself.
The authors concluded, “Our findings challenge assumptions about the origins of belief-based social division and polarization. Rather than simply avoiding people who see the world differently, people appear to be particularly sensitive to interactions that convince them that others’ beliefs are wrong.”
The authors point out several important caveats. Studies rely on self-reported emotions and assumptions, or recalled situations, and may not fully capture how people behave when faced with disagreements in the real world. Moreover, the disagreements that participants recalled were often milder and less harmful than the divisive sociopolitical scenarios presented in later experiments. Additionally, all samples were drawn from the United States via online platforms, so the findings may not apply to other cultural contexts.
The study, “The Tragedy of False Beliefs: People Feel More Anxious by Others’ False Beliefs than by Different Beliefs,” was authored by András Molnár and George Loewenstein.
