Researcher: Politicians fuel conflicts, but fail to quell them

“When politicians accuse and attack each other, the public’s perception of political conflict increases significantly. Conciliatory words have no calming effect,” says Lars Erik Berntzen, an associate professor at the University of Bergen.

He conducted the new study in collaboration with Jonas Dræge at Oslo New University College.

“Previous research from the US has shown similar patterns, but we wanted to test whether the same applies in Norway. The answer is yes,” says Berntzen.

Political infighting is divisive

Norway is one of the least polarised countries in the world, with high levels of trust. This could change if politicians argue excessively and pour fuel on the fire.

“We are not immune to the processes taking place in the US and other countries, despite starting from a much better position,” says Berntzen.

If the perceived level of conflict increases, it could, in the worst case, make society more polarised.

Negativity carries the most weight

The study shows that conciliatory messages from politicians have no noticeable effect on people. At least not in the short term.

Berntzen explains that this phenomenon is linked to what they call negativity bias. Negative information tends to have a stronger impact on perception and memory than positive information.

“Negativity from politicians strongly influences people, while conciliatory messages apparently bounce off. This applies both in the US - which is extremely polarised - and in Norway. It suggests that the underlying challenge stems from basic psychology, not just polarisation,” he says.

Politicians and the media therefore have far greater power to escalate conflicts than to calm them.

“That’s important to be aware of,” says Berntzen.

Only time heals all wounds?

The researchers suggest that repeated conciliatory messages could have an effect over time.

“Our interpretation is not necessarily that conciliatory words from politicians don’t work at all. But sustained repetition is probably needed. Our experiment couldn’t capture that,” says Berntzen.

What it actually takes to truly depolarise a heated conflict remains unclear.

To find that out, more research is needed, according to Berntzen.

“Distance in time from divisive events may, in itself, be the most important explanation for why societies depolarise,” he says.

Reference: 

Lars Erik Berntzen and Jonas Bergan Draege: Asymmetric influence: Politicians can fuel but not dampen conflict. Scandinavian Political Studies, 2025. Doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.70030

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