Heart over Mind: Unravelling Motivated Reasoning in an Unprecedented Socio-Political Context

Motivated reasoning, by which individuals evaluate information in a biased way to support desired conclusions, is a widespread phenomenon and has primarily been investigated with ideological beliefs. However, the socio-psychological factors influencing opinion change during motivated reasoning tasks have received less attention. We explored motivated reasoning about policies in Spain, focusing on the socio-political climate influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, A nationally representative sample of 1,329 participants was recruited and categorized into right-wing and left-wing political orientations. Psychometric instruments were utilized to assess psychological and social predictors, such as authoritarianism and psychological states characterized by a subjective perception of economic threat and anxiety about the pandemic. Motivated reasoning was evaluated using an online experimental task, in which participants were shown statements by politicians that were inconsistent with their ideologies and then exculpatory information that explained the inconsistencies. Right-wing and left-wing participants exhibited motivated reasoning in the evaluation of the statements. However, attitudinal change following exculpatory information varied in response to participants' political orientation and other psychological variables, with left-wing participants showing greater flexibility. Higher authoritarianism and subjective perceptions of economic threat were associated with lower attitudinal change in response to both right- and left-wing statements. In contrast, greater analytical thinking skills were linked to higher attitudinal change, particularly about right-wing statements. Our findings underscore the importance of considering ideological, emotional and cognitive aspects in public information campaigns designed to reduce polarization and promote openness to new information during crises.