Irrational Thinking is Driving the EU Referendum Result, Study Shows

Most people are unable to interpret a set of numbers correctly if the evidence doesn't support their existing and usually psychologically biased position on a topic. This happens to voters on both sides of the referendum debate. But there are differing levels of this phenomenon depending on which side of the debate someone is instinctively drawn to.

Research organisation 'The Online Privacy Foundation' has released interim findings from a series of Facebook studies examining the psychological biases, personality traits and attitudes of 8,995 voters in this week's Referendum on the UK's EU membership.

For instance, in the context of the debate about immigration and the EU, given a set of 'fake' numerical evidence about the effects of immigration on crime:

The Online Privacy Foundation also found that voters:

The study, one of ten the organization has conducted on the EU Referendum, replicated research by Yale Professor, Dan Kahan and observed the same phenomenon. Kahan's research was dubbed 'The Most Depressing Brain Finding Ever'.

Interim findings and additional material on are available via the organisation's website: https://www.onlineprivacyfoundation.org/opf-research/psychological-biases/psychology-and-the-eu-referendum/

About Online Privacy Foundation 

https://www.onlineprivacyfoundation.org/about/

Media contacts:
Chris Sumner
Researcher & Co-Founder Online Privacy Foundation
Email: [email protected]