People often talk about politics and defend or attack political beliefs—especially on social media—because politics is deeply tied to identity, values, and a sense of belonging. Here are a few reasons why it happens so often and so emotionally:
Identity and Belonging: Political beliefs often align with core values and worldviews. When someone challenges those beliefs, it can feel like a personal attack, not just a disagreement.
Tribalism: Humans naturally form groups. Politics can create an “us vs. them” mentality, where defending your side becomes a way of showing loyalty.
Echo Chambers: Social media algorithms tend to show users content they already agree with. This reinforces existing beliefs and makes opposing views seem more extreme or threatening.
Validation and Status: Expressing political views online can be a way to gain approval or respect from like-minded peers. It can also feel empowering to speak out, especially on controversial topics.
Misinformation and Emotional Content: Political content that triggers strong emotions—anger, fear, outrage—gets more attention and shares. This fuels more reactionary and defensive behavior.
Perceived Stakes: People often feel that political outcomes directly affect their rights, safety, or future. That sense of urgency makes discussions more intense.
“Those who engage in public corrections of this sort often are looking to feel good about themselves, and, according to Benoît Monin, a psychology professor at Stanford University, displays of language all-knowing-ness provide a ready-made, two-pronged opportunity to do so. ‘The way we evaluate our competence is relative to other people,’ he says. ‘If I need to feel good about my language skills, one way that I could do that would be to give myself evidence that my language skills are awesome. Another is to give myself evidence that other people’s language skills suck. So by putting down other people, I can feel better about myself.’”
“In 2005, researchers at the University of Southern California found the first evidence of brain abnormalities in pathological liars — the prefrontal cortex is always very active when people are telling lies, but their study found that liars had 25 percent more white matter, and 14 percent less gray matter, in their prefrontal cortex than non-liars, suggesting there can be a physiological predisposition to being a bullshit artist.”
