Donald Trump's Theory Of Motivated Reasoning

If there were one specific factor that could be the cause of the results of the 2016 presidential election, it would be the influences of the theory of motivated reasoning. Motivated reasoning, in summary, is reasoning affected by the reliance on a biased set of cognitive processes (Z, Kunda) as well as the ability to deceive ourselves into belief that of which we want to be reality when it is in fact, far from it. In reference to the theory of motivated reasoning, the election of Donald Trump has affected America’s current political situation in the way that Trump’s presidency allows him to portray his motivated reasoning through ideas of new laws and policies despite contrasting the ideals of the considerable amount of American citizens who

Media is a powerful resource to gather information and the influences of it can create large impacts; politics not being an exception to this known fact. In relation to motivated reasoning, all opinions within media such as videos or newspapers are rarely void of any bias at all and it can serve to not only create bias, but validate the already present bias the public may have. Mooney states in his Article The Science of Why We Don’t Believe in Science that “when people grow polarized over a body of evidence, or a resolvable matter of fact, the cause may be some form of biased reasoning, but they could also be receiving skewed information to begin with- or a complicated combination of both” (Mooney) and this statement can be observed through the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election as media played a large role in the way people carried themselves in their ideals. The notion that people could be affected by “skewed information” suggests prior background bias in the media that the public often consumes. When viewing news of Trumps candidacy through a source such as Fox News, the possibility of “skewed information” becomes true from the bias of the producers to the new anchors thus being one of the tipping points for some people to vote

First, it is important to understand the different reasons for one to use motivated reasoning and the one common reason that would be especially applicable to how some individuals may act- for example, the current elected president, Donald Trump: using motivated reasoning in order to avoid possible consequences of the truth they are denying. One memorable statement Trump had made on Twitter was the talk of many as he had exclaimed that “Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!” (Trump). Mooney addressed this issue and provided an observation in which he pointed out the behaviour of Republicans, the party who are often the most distrustful of science, saying “Republicans who think they understand the global warming issue best are least concerned about it” (Mooney). This lack of concern over a topic along with the sure “knowledge” of said topic can be linked to the usage of motivated reasoning to avoid the inevitable consequences of the truth. In the case of climate change and global warming, it is easier to claim yourself an expert in the field of study while keeping a distance from the facts of the situation as it allows the avoidance of the inevitable consequences of said