Exploring motivated reasoning in polarization over the unfolding 2023 judicial reform in Israel.

ABSTRACT: This work explored polarization over Israel's Judicial Reform, introduced in January 2023. We find that the reform divided people into pro- and anti-reform camps, which differed in characteristics such as institutional trust, patriotism, and national identity. For example, the camps disagreed about trust in the government versus the judiciary. In line with motivated reasoning-biased reasoning processes used to reach desired conclusions-people's pre-existing characteristics motivated polarized views of the reform as a threat to democracy (issue-based polarization) and negative emotions towards opponents (affective polarization). Further demonstrating a motivated process, pro-reform participants (the electorate majority), prioritized majority rule over other democratic features (e.g., minori

SUBMITTER: Simunovic D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11332199 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature