Abstract
At a time when public trust has reached historic lows and partisan political tensions are
approaching untenable heights, it is increasingly difficult to recognize contradictory points of
view. Through the construction of a theoretical model on opinion formation behavior, this thesis
attempts to answer the question of how people, even with the same information, find themselves
opposed in numerous forms. The four factors of Bias, General Knowledge, Rhetoric, and
Environment are explored through a review of literature by prominent theorists, contemporary
examples of political behavior, and polling data, all combined in a theoretical model. The flow
chart depicts the causal relationship between the model’s factors and external pressures that
influence opinion outcomes, such as source or confirmation by peers. The four factors identified
represent the points of deviation before an individual reaches their opinion, providing a
framework for recognizing how others with opposing views reach their conclusions and how we
ourselves are influenced by external coercion, especially against the backdrop of contemporary
polarization. This model is applied to the abortion debate to illustrate how deconstructing
seemingly insurmountable opposition can help us reach practical policy solutions more
efficiently and identify the common root causes of political hostilities more effectively.