1. The Impact of Political literacy on Political Attitudes
Presented by leah Borovoi
Bar Ilan University

2. The problem of geo-political illiteracy
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
The problem of geo-political illiteracy
42% believe in ghosts
32% believe in UFOs
26% believe in astrology
23% believe in witches
70% could not locate Israel or Iran
90% could not locate Afghanistan
54% did not know Sudan is in Africa
75% did not know Indonesia is the largest Muslim country
Harris Poll of 2,303 adults surveyed online between November 2 and 11, 2009 by Harris Interactive.
Harris Poll of nationwide representative sample of 510 adults age in the continental United States conducted between December 17, 2005, to January 20, by Roper Public Affairs and Media
“Everybody needs to believe in something….I believe I’ll have another drink” W.C. Fields

3. The Questions at Hand: Introduction Methods Results Discussion
Who do you think show higher political literacy – those who vote for the right or those who vote for the left?
What position is currently held by the person in the picture?
Who is the current minister of education?
Which office is currently held by Silvan Shalom?
To which party Israel Katz belongs?

4. perceived right to left wing (z-score)
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
“Please rate the extent to which you are right or left wing, politically?”
PIT prediction: Political Illiteracy & Bounded Rationality
Left
High Pol. literacy/System 2
perceived right to left wing (z-score)
Low Pol. literacy/System 1
Right
Prediction of bounded rationality model: Kahneman, Daniel (2003)

5. Scientific background
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Scientific background
Motivated reasoning
A classic study: Hastorf, & Cantril (1954)
Who Fears the HPV Vaccine? (Kahan et al, 2008)
Confirmation bias
Peter Wason and Philip Johnson-Laird (1972)
Which cards must you turn over to prove the following statement false: "If a card has a vowel on one side, then it has an even number on the other side."
Professor Dan Kahan, the Cultural Cognition Project, Yale Law School.
Subjects seek to confirm their hypotheses rather than genuinely test them!

6. perceived right to left wing (z-score)
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
“Please rate the extent to which you are right or left wing, politically?”
Prediction: Political Illiteracy & Motivated reasoning
Left
Left background
perceived right to left wing (z-score)
Right background
Low Pol. literacy
High Pol. literacy
Right
Prediction of motivated reasoning model

7. Scientific background
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Scientific background
Attitude polarization
A classic study: Lord, Ross, & Lepper (1979)
Selective attention
Damasio’s (1998) somatic marker hypothesis
Attitude inertia
Von Hippel & Trivers (2011)
The adaptive unconscous
Anderson (1980):
Johnson & Goldstein (2003):
Wilson et al. (2004) Anticipatory vs. post-event construal

8. Political involvement
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Research Methods
Political involvement
N = 90
political attitudes questionnaire
political literacy questionnaire
N = 95
News read/watched

9. Introduction Methods Results Discussion Actual Votes in Ariel
Actual Votes in Tel Aviv
50 women from ariel
52 women from TA

10. The distribution of political literacy by academic institution
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
The distribution of political literacy by academic institution
% of correct answers
50 women from ariel
52 women from TA
Ariel
Tel Aviv
Institution
Political literacy questionnaire: 16 questions; Cronbach alpha = .75

11. perceived right to left wing (z-score)
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
“Please rate the extent to which you are right or left wing, politically?”
Political Illiteracy & Academic Culture
Tel Aviv University
Left
High Pol. literacy/System 2
perceived right to left wing (z-score)
Ariel University College
Low Pol. literacy/System 1
Right
Low political literacy
High political literacy
M low, Ariel = 2.16 (SD = .91) M high, Ariel = 1.80 (SD = 1.10)
M low, Tel Aviv = 3.51 (SD = 1.03) M high, Tel Aviv = 4.06 (SD = 1.11)
F (1, 181) = 8.62; p < .01
Scale 0 (“very right”) to 5 (“very left”)

12. Introduction Methods Results Discussion Involvement News Read/Watched
Academic institution
Involvement
News Read/Watched
Political Literacy
Involvement
News Read/Watched
Political Literacy
.23*
.23*
Ariel
Tel Aviv
.45**
.30**
-.19+
.33**
The Vote
The Vote

13. What the source of the problem is motivated reasoning
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
1. What the source of the problem isn’t: public irrationality thesis (PIT)
What the source of the problem is motivated reasoning
We seldom “choose” our political ideology – we are born into it.
When it comes to evidence “people endorse which position reinforces their connection to others with whom they share important commitments.” 
Richard Feynman
Dan Kahan in Nature (1/20/2010, 463, ) - The Psychology of the Resistance to Social Change Thinking

14. Richard Feynman Nobel Laureate
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Richard Feynman Nobel Laureate

15. Thank You for Your Kind Attention please keep thinking. Questions
Thank You for Your Kind Attention please keep thinking. Questions??? Leah Borovoi