A tale of two peoples: motivated reasoning in the aftermath of the Brexit Vote

Partisanship is a powerful driver of economic perceptions. Yet we know

less about whether other political divisions may lead to similar evaluative biases. In this article, we explore how the salient divide between ‘Remainers’

and ‘Leavers’ in the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum has given

rise to biased economic perceptions. In line with the cognitive dissonance

framework, we argue that salient non-partisan divisions can change economic

perceptions by triggering processes of self- and in-group justification. Using

both nationally-representative observational and experimental survey data,

we demonstrate that the perceptions of the economy are shaped by the Brexit

divide, and that these biases are exacerbated when respondents are reminded

of Brexit. These findings indicate that perceptual biases are not always rooted

in partisanship, but can be triggered by other political divisions.