Ideological beliefs as cues to exploitation-exploration behavior

Abstract

We argue that one reason why people consider others' ideological beliefs (i.e., progressive vs. conservative) is that people profit by predicting others' exploration behavior from their beliefs. Eight experiments confirmed that people more readily invested in progressives when switching to novel options (i.e., exploration) was more profitable than staying with valuable resources (i.e., exploitation). In contrast, people more readily invested in conservatives when exploitation was more profitable than exploration. Thus, considering others' beliefs may be one means to navigate ecologies with different reward structures, a task that has remained relevant throughout human history and across cultures.