PhD Position: Factual Belief Polarisation and its Attitudinal Consequences

What citizens believe to be true and whether they trust science and experts increasingly depend on where they stand on the political spectrum. As a result, political opponents are often divided not only in their attitudes, but also in their beliefs about reality. Left-wing and right-wing voters, for instance, have different perceptions of the causes of climate change, the magnitude of income inequality, and the number of immigrants in their country. We are recruiting a PhD candidate who will examine how this 'factual belief polarisation' influences public opinion and potentially contributes to broader polarisation.

You will apply new and existing experimental methods to examine when, how, and why factual beliefs about issues such as inequality, immigration, or government spending have an impact on issue attitudes and affective polarisation. Your results will be disseminated in international peer-reviewed journal articles and an article-based PhD dissertation. Your supervision ...