Why So Many Negative Attack Ads in Politics?

Negative political attack ads boil over on media these days. And, in election debate follow-ups, many news media channels point out half-truths and distortions. Ever wonder why seemingly decent people resort to so many half-truths and outright falsehoods? Negative political ads influence young voters most according to a report in the April issue of Journal of Consumer Research. You'd be intrigued by what happens...

Negative ads significantly impact the mind of registered voters aged 18-23 in comparison to positive ads, according to the research findings. Though negatives are distasteful, they carry enough weight to change preference and behavior of younger minds.

Thus, "successful politicians rely on the 'pervasive power of the particular,'" according to Frank McAndrew, in Scientific American Mind Oct/Nov, 2008. They build on anecdotes and personal narratives to make political points.

Trouble is, the more people hear stories repeated, they are more likely to accept them. And it's related to the plasticity of your brain. Here's why...

"Any act of remembering re-weights memories, tweaking them to try to be more adaptive for the next time you try to remember something," explains Anthony Wagner, Stanford Psychology researcher. "The brain is plastic—adaptive—and one feature of that is not just strengthening some memories but also suppressing or weakening others." Amazing that repetition, whether negative or positive, can reinforce and change memory.

No doubt you begin to see why the narratives displayed must be questioned and thoroughly researched. Repetition can otherwise trick the brain.

For a more thoughtful approach:

• Study what the candidates say about the issues
• Check the facts presented
• Watch several media news sources to get a bigger picture: Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, National Public Media
• Turn off the attack ads
  

What would you add to get the big picture and avoid persuasion through negative attack ads?