Cognitive style and political ideology mutually shape each other

Evidence

One interesting implication of the model is that a reciprocal causal relation exists between cognitive style and political ideology. On the one hand, the value pluralism of a person’s ideology may shape how he or she typically thinks about policy issues. Ideologies with one value of overriding importance (monistic ideologies) may encourage adherents to view issues in simple, black-white terms, whereas multivalue ideologies may sensitize adherents to the need to balance competing objectives, often in different ways in different situations. On the other hand, one’s cognitive style may shape the value content of one’s ideology. Individuals who dislike ambiguity and cognitive inconsistency may be more attracted to monistic than pluralistic ideologies. Such individuals are likely to grow quickly impatient with the difficult trade-offs that pluralistic ideologies require. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2339

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A genuinely bidirectional causal claim — monistic ideologies simplify thought, while ambiguity-averse individuals select into monistic ideologies — with testable longitudinal implications. Sits well above the run-of-mill chapter summary.
• SEED: Angle for an essay: the self-selection loop by which people choose ideologies that match their cognitive style, and what that means for depolarization efforts.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2339
• XREF: connects to: Rigid cognitive style drives authoritarianism but not prejudice directly — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 471