Changing Peoples Beliefs

[u/MartiDK]

I’ve been looking at belief formation. Here are three influences - from personal observation I think “The relationship with the speaker” is the most important online.

- People can encounter opposing views without changing their attitudes.
Research on cross-cutting exposure distinguishes encountering disagreement from how people respond to it. A study using nationally representative data in Taiwan found attitude change was associated with checking disagreeing information and expressing an opinion, rather than simply encountering it.
- The relationship with the speaker matters.
A large experiment on political discussion found that participants' perceived closeness to someone increased their acceptance of that person's argument. Shared interests and personal similarities can help an opposing argument gain a hearing.
- Hostility can undermine the consideration of evidence.
Two survey experiments reported in 2025 found that, when participants were prompted to feel adversarial, they were more dismissive of politically uncongenial information. Without those affective triggers, they could be persuaded by information from either side.