Elections are weighing heavily on our minds. In three short months, America will see the race between Barack Obama and John McCain come to a head, while we in Britain will probably have a general election within the next few years. Some people, of course, will vote based on long-held loyalties to a specific political party, but many of us are more malleable in our choices. What affects the choices of these undecided voters?
People are given to viewing ourselves as rational beings and as such, we'd like to think that our choices are fuelled by objective and careful deliberation. So we pay attention to media coverage, we read up on policies and we listen to debates and only then, having gathered as much information as we can about the various options, do we make a choice. That's how it plays out in our heads, but according to a new study, the reality may be quite different.
