Headlines and Political Bias

Less inflammatory headlines may be the way out of the partisan echo chamber.

Why do so many people click on partisan headlines that support their political outlook, even when they know the news source is biased? 

Prof. Glenn Baker [psychology] and psychology major Jesse Atkin ’21 ran a series of experiments over the summer to see how subjects would respond to headlines when news sources were labeled with a “bias indicator” that rated the reliability of their information. Their hope was that labels would encourage people to stick with trustworthy sources and steer clear of clickbait.

Disappointingly, the bias indicator had minimal effect—subjects were still drawn to headlines that affirmed their opinions. (This effect was actually stronger for subjects on the more liberal end of the spectrum.)

But then the Reed team went one step farther: they rewrote the headlines to make them less inflammatory. When presented with moderate headlines, the partisan effect evaporated—subjects were far less likely to click on a headline from a dubious source just because it supported their view. 

These results dovetail with the social identity theory proposed by Polish psychologist Henri Tajfel in 1979. Tajfel found that people who identify with a particular social group (the “in-group”) are motivated to seek out information that bolsters the in-group and derogates those they perceive as rivals (the “out-group”). 

This is one reason why political ideology is so hard to challenge. “We get really bent out of shape about information that we disagree with,” says Prof. Baker. 

Moderate headlines may offer a way to reduce political polarization. Unfortunately, media platforms have strong incentives to keep using inflammatory headlines as a way to gain audience share.  

This research was supported in part by the Robert And Patricia Lawlor Carlson Student Opportunity Fund, established in 2018 with a series of gifts totaling $100,000 from Patricia Lawlor Carlson '66 and Robert Carlson. It was also supported by a generous gift from pediatrician Esther Wender ’59 to support student research in the psychology department. 

A growing body of evidence shows that undergrads who do research get better at overcoming obstacles, thinking independently, and understanding how knowledge is constructed. In the last decade, Reed College has set out to provide students with more opportunities to pursue research in their sophomore and junior years; the skills they gain from these projects often prove invaluable for their thesis and their careers. 

 

Tags: Academics, Giving Back to Reed, Research