Journal article
An Ideological House of Mirrors: Political Stereotypes as Exaggerations of Motivated Social Cognition Differences
Social psychological & personality science, Vol.6(2), pp.201-209
03/2015
DOI: 10.1177/1948550614549385
Abstract
Previous research on political stereotypes has focused on the perceived moral values or political attitudes of conservatives and liberals. The current studies examined whether laypeople hold stereotypes about the psychological traits of Republicans and Democrats and whether those stereotypes represent exaggerations of actual political differences. Participants completed measures of epistemic (Study 1), existential (Study 2), and ideological (Study 2) motives. Participants also completed these measures based on how they thought the average Republican and average Democrat would respond. Consistent with previous research, Republicans scored higher on these measures of motivated social cognition than Democrats. Critically, political stereotypes about Democrats and Republicans mirrored, but exaggerated, the actual differences. Despite an overall tendency of participants to engage in stereotype exaggeration, Democrats engaged in greater stereotype exaggeration compared to Republicans, and partisans (individuals who strongly identified with either party) engaged in greater stereotype exaggeration compared to more moderate party members.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- An Ideological House of Mirrors: Political Stereotypes as Exaggerations of Motivated Social Cognition Differences
- Creators
- Aaron M Scherer - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAPaul D Windschitl - Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAJesse Graham - Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Social psychological & personality science, Vol.6(2), pp.201-209
- DOI
- 10.1177/1948550614549385
- ISSN
- 1948-5506
- eISSN
- 1948-5514
- Comment
- Test development: Perceptions of Political Groups Measure
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/2015
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; General Internal Medicine; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984094633602771
Metrics
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