The dual nature of partisan prejudice: Morality and identity in a multiparty system

Abstract

Rising hostility between members of opposing political factions has gained considerable attention in both academic and popular press. The adverse effects of this phenomenon are widely recognized, but its psychological antecedents remain the focus of ongoing debate in political psychology. Past research has honed in on two conflicting explanations: one highlights the extent to which people self-define as supporters of particular parties or candidates (the identity view), and another points toward the intensity with which they disagree on substantive matters of policy (the issues view). A nationally representative survey of 1051 eligible Spanish voters yielded support for both explanations. The perceived magnitude and nature of disagreement were associated with increased partisan prejudice, while controlling for partisan identification. Path analyses revealed that issue-based prejudice was more pronounced among ideologically extreme agents ( β = 0.237, 95% CI [0.174, 0.300]) than toward extreme targets ( β = 0.140, 95% CI [0.078, 0.201]), and replicated recent findings that identity-based prejudice is motivated primarily by non-instrumental factors ( β = 0.286, 95% CI [0.230, 0.337]). Together, these results indicate that discrimination across party lines responds to two fundamentally distinct, though at times co-occurring, imperatives: to coalesce in ideologically homogeneous communities, and to protect one’s sense of partisan identity.

Polarization in America: two possible futures

“…[86,44]) because of the wealth of empirical studies examining this population over time. With American polarization at record highs, the prevalence and effects described here are likely milder elsewhere; moreover, unique political and cultural factors (e.g., multi-party systems, democratic versus other political systems, media availability) likely influence how polarization manifests [87,88,94].…”

Polarization in America: Two possible futures

“…[86,44]) because of the wealth of empirical studies examining this population over time. With American polarization at record highs, the prevalence and effects described here are likely milder elsewhere; moreover, unique political and cultural factors (e.g., multi-party systems, democratic versus other political systems, media availability) likely influence how polarization manifests [87,88,94].…”

Delving into the divide: how ideological differences fuel out-party hostility in a multi-party context

“…Although findings show that social identity and partisanship do play a role in driving the negative feelings towards out-parties and partisans, they find that ideological differences equally (Viciana et al, 2019 in Spain) or even more strongly (Huddy et al, 2018 andReiljan andRyan, 2021 in Sweden) explain these feelings. However, many of these studies focus solely on the affect towards the own party and the most disliked party, essentially reducing the complexity of a multiparty system back to only two parties or blocks (Huddy et al, 2018;Westwood et al, 2018;Viciana et al, 2019). Moreover, most focus on the negative affect and dislike towards political elites and/or parties rather than the affect towards fellow citizens (Huddy et al, 2018;exceptions include Viciana et al, 2019, Kekkonen andYlä-Anttila, 2021;Reiljan and Ryan, 2021;and Harteveld, 2021a).…”

“…Nevertheless, given that most of these studies have been conducted in the USA and/or have focused on two competing groups, it remains difficult to disentangle party effects and ideological distance from one another, as there is only one out-group. Scholars have set out more recently to conduct research in the context of the European multi-party systems, but these studies often still focus only on the most disliked party supporters (Westwood et al, 2018;Viciana et al, 2019), or, much like their American predecessors, focus on affection towards political parties or candidates (Kekkonen and Ylä-Anttila, 2021;Reiljan and Ryan, 2021, but for an exception see e.g., Harteveld, 2021a). However, affection towards political candidates or parties is not necessarily the same, neither conceptually nor empirically, as affection towards supporters (Druckman and Levendusky, 2019) and there is only a moderate correlation between the two.…”