title: The tree to the left, the forest to the right: political attitude and perceptual bias.
abstract: A prominent model suggests that individuals to the right of the political spectrum are more cognitively rigid and less tolerant of ambiguity than individuals to the left. On the basis of this model, we predicted that a psychological mechanism linked to the resolution of visual ambiguity--perceptual bias--would be linked to political attitude. Perceptual bias causes western individuals to favour a global interpretation when scrutinizing ambiguous hierarchical displays (e.g., alignment of trees) that can be perceived either in terms of their local elements (e.g., several trees) or in terms of their global structure (e.g., a forest). Using three tasks (based on Navon-like hierarchical figures or on the Ebbinghaus illusion), we demonstrate (1) that right-oriented Westerners present a stronger bias towards global perception than left-oriented Westerners and (2) that this stronger bias is linked to higher cognitive rigidity. This study establishes for the first time that political ideology, a high-level construct, is directly reflected in low-level perception. Right- and left-oriented individuals actually see the world differently.
authors.affiliation: Université de Nîmes, Rue du Dr Georges Salan, 30000 Nîmes, France. Electronic address: serge.caparos@unimes.fr.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caparos
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 boulevard des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières G9A 5H7, Canada. Electronic address: simon.fortier-st-pierre@uqtr.ca.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fortier-St-Pierre
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 boulevard des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières G9A 5H7, Canada. Electronic address: jeremie.gosselin@uqtr.ca.
authors.forename: Jérémie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gosselin
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 boulevard des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières G9A 5H7, Canada. Electronic address: isabelle.blanchette@uqtr.ca.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blanchette
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351 boulevard des Forges, CP 500, Trois-Rivières G9A 5H7, Canada. Electronic address: benoit.brisson@uqtr.ca.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brisson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011057:Politics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cognitive rigidity; Ebbinghaus illusion; Local/global bias; Navon; Political attitudes; Visual perception