A recent study published in Communications Psychology investigates how certain beliefs about politics influence people’s willingness to engage in political discussions. Researchers found that individuals who see politics as a zero-sum game — where one side’s gain is inevitably another’s loss — are more likely to avoid conversations with people of differing political beliefs. This pattern was observed in both Israeli and American voters, particularly in the days leading up to major elections in their respective countries.
In recent years, political discourse has become more divisive, and many people avoid discussing politics altogether, especially with those who hold different views. This avoidance is problematic because political conversations are important for reducing polarization, promoting understanding, and exposing individuals to diverse perspectives. However, the reasons for this avoidance are complex.
The researchers proposed that zero-sum beliefs about politics might be a significant factor in why people refrain from talking to others with different political ideologies. By exploring this connection, the researchers hoped to uncover ways to encourage more constructive political conversations.
“We live in a time in which people are increasingly closing themselves off in their own political bubbles, ‘canceling’ anyone who disagrees with them and refusing to hear opinions that are opposed to their own,” said study author Shai Davidai, an assistant professor of management at the Columbia Business School
“Unfortunately, this is especially common within academia – the place where such conversations are most needed – with many of my colleagues unable to name even one conservative or Republican friend. It was therefore important for me to try to understand why we are seeing such widespread avoidance of the conversations that are most needed.”
The researchers conducted two studies — one in Israel and one in the United States — involving voters just before national elections. Both studies used similar methods to investigate how zero-sum beliefs influenced political conversation avoidance.
In the Israeli study, 403 participants completed a survey the day before the 2022 parliamentary elections. They were asked about their political party affiliation, their beliefs about whether politics is a zero-sum game (for example, “When lawmakers from one party pass a bill, it comes at the expense of voters of other political parties”), how often they avoided political conversations with people who held different views, and their general openness to opposing viewpoints.
The U.S. study took place in two waves: one week before and one day before the 2022 midterm elections. A total of 579 participants took part in the first wave, and 480 returned for the second. Like the Israeli participants, they were asked about their political beliefs, how often they avoided political discussions, and their receptiveness to opposing viewpoints. They were also asked additional questions related to their personality traits and political ideologies.
Across both studies, the researchers found a clear link between zero-sum beliefs about politics and the avoidance of political conversations. In other words, the more participants saw politics as a zero-sum game, the more they tended to avoid talking about it with people who had different political views. This pattern held true for voters in both Israel and the United States, despite the significant differences in their political systems.
The researchers identified two key factors that mediated this relationship. First, people with strong zero-sum beliefs were more likely to expect political conversations to lead to conflict. Second, zero-sum thinkers were less receptive to opposing views, meaning they were less willing to consider perspectives that differed from their own.
Interestingly, the researchers found that this avoidance behavior was not influenced by political affiliation or ideology. Whether participants identified as liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between, their belief in zero-sum politics was the strongest predictor of their reluctance to engage in political discussions.
“As we are nearing the 2024 Presidential Elections, the average person should ask themselves the following two questions: Have I had any meaningful, in-person, civil conversations with someone I disagree with over the past month? And, if not, why?” Davidai told PsyPost.
“There are undoubtedly certain issues that are zero-sum. For instance, someone who believes in a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestine conflict will find it difficult to find common ground with someone who believes that the State of Israel has no right to exist. Yet, many things – from common sense gun rules and abortion policies to issues involving the taxes, tariffs, and immigration – are not zero-sum. Unfortunately, when people treat them as such, they avoid talking about them.”
While this study offers important insights, it also has some limitations. One major limitation is that the findings are correlational, meaning they show a relationship between zero-sum beliefs and conversation avoidance but cannot definitively prove that one causes the other.
Although the study’s design suggests that zero-sum beliefs are more likely to lead to avoidance than the reverse, more research is needed to establish a clear causal link. Future studies could use experimental methods to manipulate zero-sum beliefs and observe their impact on political behavior.
“The most important caveat is that our work is correlational and longitudinal, and as thus cannot directly determine causation,” Davidai noted. “More work will be needed to achieve that.
Looking forward, Davidai hopes to continue to shed light on “when and why people view issues as zero-sum, what are the implications of doing so, and how can we hopefully reduce such zero-sum beliefs when they are erroneous.”
The study, “Zero-sum beliefs and the avoidance of political conversations,” was authored by F. Katelynn Boland and Shai Davidai.