Polarisation intensifies around elections – but can be reduced with the right information

Dislike of those of those whose political views you disagree with intensifies arounds elections, but can be combatted with specific facts, shows new work based on Brazilian politics published today in Nature Communications , with Anna Petherick as lead author. A team of Brazilian and UK researchers found that people vastly misjudged what those with different political views thought about key controversial issues. When privately shown the group’s views were closer to their own that they had imagined, their dislike of that group lessened.