Counter-Projection in a Polarized Political Climate: Examining the Role of Threat and Ways to Reduce It.
Datum
2022-10-04
Autor:innen
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University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
The term “polarization” is often associated with “opposition.” Yet, how do people come to see others as their opposites? There is likely a social cognitive process at play. One such process is counter-projection, where people attribute traits, morals, and preferences that are opposite their own onto another person. To better understand when people counter-project, a series of studies were conducted to explore the possible mechanisms, especially threat, behind counter-projection with political out-group targets. These studies also examined if counter-projection can be reduced through analogous perspective-taking – an intervention that asked participants to remember a time when they experienced a similar circumstance to a target individual. The results suggest that counter-projection is triggered by perceptions of threat – either threat associated with an out-group the target belongs to (found in Study 1) or associated with the target themselves (found in Study 2B, which was run after piloting test measures in Study 2A). However, there appears to be an additional mechanism at play in counter-projection – stereotyping. Results related to when stereotyping explains counter-projection indicate that there may be multiple routes to counter-projection. Results regarding the analogous perspective-taking intervention were inconsistent across studies, suggesting the intervention is likely ineffective at reducing polarization.
Beschreibung
Schlagwörter
Counter-projection, Intergroup relations, Perspective taking, Political psychology, Projection, Stereotyping