This study investigates the use of heuristics by local politicians in The Netherlands.
Data & Methods:
A survey experiment was conducted with 211 Dutch elected local politicians and 260 students to test for decision-making biases related to representativeness heuristic - specifically conjunction error (CE) and scope neglect (SN).
Key Findings: CE & SN Observed, Not Consistent Across Scenarios:
The results show that politician participants displayed CE in two out of three scenarios tested. They also showed evidence of SN in one scenario.
However, the third CE scenario did not find statistically significant evidence for politicians displaying this bias.
Why It Matters:
This suggests politicians utilize representativeness heuristics but their application may be inconsistent or dependent on specific contexts.
The findings offer empirical insights into cognitive processes underlying political judgment relevant to understanding democratic representation.
