Contemporary U.S. politics is characterized by polarization and interpartisan antipathy. This is accompanied by a media landscape saturated with coverage of political scandals. Applying a social identity perspective, we examined whether exposure to scandals that threaten partisan's moral group image (i.e., in‐party scandals), may motivate defensive hostility against opposing partisans. Across three experiments we exposed U.S. partisans to scandals attributed to either in‐party or out‐party politicians. We then assessed partisan hostility using a variety of operationalizations, including anger at a real outgroup politician (Study 1), judgments about the alleged misdeeds of a fabricated outgroup politician (Study 2), and negative perceptions of opposing party members (Study 3). Strength of partisan identity was assessed as a predicted moderator (Study 3). As expected in‐ (vs. out‐) party scandals, were perceived as group‐image threats and elicited greater hostility towards opposing partisans, independent of partisans' ideological extremity or prior affective polarization.
Introduction: Drawing on existential psychology we examine the possibility that specific phobias can serve a psychological function. Specifically, we propose that phobic objects allow individuals to focalize anxieties about haphazard existential threats into a more manageable form, reducing perceptions of risk and bolstering control. Method: We tested this by assessing perceived control among participants with varying levels of spider fear who were reminded of chaotic hazards (or not) and exposed to spiders images (or not). Results: Study 1 (N = 940) found that among those high in spider fear, salient uncontrollable threats (vs. controllable threats or uncontrollable non-threats) reduced feelings of control unless participants were exposed to their phobic object. Similarly, exposure to spider (vs. non-spider) images bolstered perceived control in the face of salient hazards, but only for those high in spider fear. A second preregistered study (N = 1349) found that the palliative effects of focusing on a phobic object were partially explained by a decreased concern with haphazard harms. Discussion: This supports the premise that phobic objects help to maintain control by narrowing the source of disordered risks, creating a more controllable conception of reality.
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