Issue importance amplifies the effect of gaze on voting decisions

There are many factors that can influence a voter's decision in the ballot booth but not all of them are policy related. One non-policy factor that may influence voters is the tendency to choose options that attract attention. Here, we investigate this possibility in two proof-of-concept laboratory studies with people choosing between proposed laws. We find that people are slower to vote when their party is split over an issue, and that they tend to vote for laws that they look at more. Moreover, this gaze effect is stronger for more important issues. We also find that we can increase the probability that someone will vote for one of two laws by getting them to look at that option first. Our work harnesses the power of sequential sampling models to explain the relationship between gaze and vote choice. We find support for a goal-based model where overt attention amplifies information supporting a particular law. This model explains why gaze has a stronger effect on choice for more important issues. Our findings indicate that some voting decisions are not predetermined and instead rely on an on-the-spot evaluation. As a result, these decisions can be swayed by attentional manipulations. Thus, visual attention may serve as a unifying framework for understanding different biases that occur in the voting booth, such as ballot-order and candidate-name-familiarity effects.