📄 Read the full paper here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lNZgxRaZn...

2️⃣ When primed some stereotypical traits emerge: rural communities are associated with nature and a relaxed lifestyle, while urban ones are linked to stress and individualism

Our findings show:

1️⃣ Rural–urban identities surface only marginally when not prompted directly. Identities based on age, ideology, and education are more salient in spontaneous responses.

🧑‍💻 Using open-ended survey responses from a representative sample in Spain (N=1359), we apply AI-based text analysis to explore how individuals describe the groups they identify with.

The resurgence of the rural–urban divide in political attitudes is often interpreted through the lens of social identity.
❓But do rural and urban identities shape how citizens see themselves—or are they just reflections of deeper, more salient identities?

@dieterstiers.bsky.social

@johnkenny.bsky.social

Gràcies Luis!

These findings suggest that mild electoral punishment for corruption might occur when voters are unaware of private gains from malfeasance or when those gains aren't visible by election day. Read more open access here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

We also dig deeper into the mechanisms at play. Punishment for malfeasance stems from the loss of trust caused by unlawful decisions, which outweighs any perception of increased efficiency.

Our results show that voters prefer politicians who follow the law. However, they are more likely to overlook legal violations that benefit the community—as long as there’s no private gain for the politician (i.e., no corruption involved).

We explored this with a fun survey experiment where respondents faced a dilemma:
Should a mayor solve a catastrophe quickly using a shady method or stick to legal procedures, delaying the resolution?