Making the Right Turn: The Association Between Political Conservatism Versus Liberalism and Attitudes Toward Automated Vehicles Over Time

Abstract

Adoption of automated vehicles (AVs) depends on political will. This work investigates how political ideology relates to attitudes toward AVs and attitude updating with new information, how knowledge plays a role, and how these processes vary across time depending on cultural context in the United States. In 2018 (Study 1), Conservatives’ initial attitudes toward AVs were less positive than liberals’ (i.e., less liking, trusting, and higher ratings of danger), but there was no difference in perceptions of understanding AVs. After reading the benefits of AVs, conservatives, versus liberals, demonstrated larger, positive changes in their attitudes (i.e., trusting increased and danger decreased), but also a decrease in understanding. Notably, liberals knew more about AVs than did conservatives. In 2021, when liking of Elon Musk, and hence AVs, may be polarized, we see the opposite pattern (Study 2): conservatives like Elon Musk, know much about, and report relatively positive attitudes and intentions to use and purchase AVs, compared to liberals. This work suggests that partisans’ attitudes toward novel technological entities such as AVs are shaped by a complex confluence of cultural contributors, including epistemic and social ones.