Consequences of Political Conflict

Good Stuff

Conflict isn’t all bad. Sometimes conflict helps build a better, fairer society - such as during the civil rights movement in the U.S.

Disagreement can make us more thoughtful, informed citizens. My colleagues and I have found that people who disagree a lot with their close friends and family are less likely to choose candidates strictly based on the party they belong to, and more likely to use their positions on important policies to make their judgments (Ekstrom, Smith, Williams, & Kim, 2020). In this case, we think conflict pushes people to think more carefully and to make more reasoned electoral decisions.

Bad Stuff

Conflict can reduce the quality of information available to voters. Experts have known for a long time that people are slow to admit that they’re wrong about political issues. People are skeptical of information that challenges their views. More recently, we have found that this biased skepticism is just part of the problem. People are also more likely to talk about information that supports their opinions, even when they know about - and believe - information that would contradict them (Ekstrom & Lai, 2021). This “selective communication” could distort the information available in social networks.

Conflict can reduce officials’ accountability to the public. In the midst of intense conflicts, people may place an unhealthy emphasis on beating the other side at any cost. When partisans see politics as zero-sum - as a matter of winning or losing for their party - they are more willing to overlook wrongdoing by politicians on “their side,” and endorse their stubborn justifications of their actions (Ekstrom, Gonzales, Williams, Weiner, & Aguilera, under review 1; Ekstrom, Gonzales, Williams, Weiner, & Aguilera, under review 2).