Nudge for reflection: More than just a channel to political knowledge

Abstract

Reflection, a process that organizes information into a structure that incorporates both own and others' perspectives, was previously believed to function mainly as an antecedent of political knowledge. In this paper, we first design a simple interface nudge to encourage users to reflect on their views on political issues. Second, we use an experimental study to show that reflection works in a way more than leading to political knowledge. Results from a betweensubjects online experiment (N = 168) covering one crucial public issue in Singapore (i.e., fertility) showed that (a) reflection interacts with information access to influence perceived issue knowledge; (b) reflection enhances perceived attitude certainty, including perceived attitude clarity and perceived attitude correctness; (c) reflection promotes willingness to express opinions in private settings.