“You’re either with us or against us”: The association between dichotomous thinking style and political extremism among Israeli voters

Abstract

Purpose of the study: People who tend towards political extremism are often characterized by a rather simplistic black-and-white worldview of their social reality. It results from a psychological tendency to perceive and interpret the world in a certain way. The hypothesis underlies the current study is that this tendency is manifested in a thinking style defined as “dichotomous thinking”. That is, the propensity to perceive and interpret the world in terms of binary options (i.e., “black or white”, “good or bad”, or “all or nothing”). Methodology: The study was conducted in Israel, during the 2019 election campaign, which began an ongoing political crisis that led to deep polarization between the two main political camps in Israel. Participants (N=312) completed online survey which included a demographic questionnaire, and measures of political identification and dichotomous thinking style. Results: The study’s results indicated both linear and quadradic associations between dichotomous thinking and political identification. That is, dichotomous thinking style was associated both to a political tendency to the right, and in general, to a tendency to political extremism, on the right or on the left. Conclusion: These results provide empirical support for theoretical models who suggested that a U-shaped pattern of association exists between cognitive rigidity and political identification, but that the association is stronger at the right end of the political spectrum