Living in a Social World
Psy 324: Advanced Social Psychology
Fall, 1996
Miami University

The Political Spectrum

by Benjamin Krieger

Please Note: These materials may be used for research, study, and education, but please credit the authors and source.

     The recent presidential elections have shown yet another aspect of American Culture in which intergroup bias exists. Through televised debates, newspaper and magazine articles, political cartoons, books and other materials, voters received different opinions from various schools of thought. Whether liberal, conservative, or extreme, everybody had to voice their opinion.

   There seems to be very little research on how groups with different political views view each other. An interesting exception is Ester & Vinken's (1993) study on the perception of young urban professionals (yuppies). "The pseudo-scholarly [in-group] perception states that young urban professionals display a unique combination of social-ethical liberalism and social-economic conservatism." The study showed that while there is evidence for the former set of values, there is not evidence for the latter. There was no evidence for the "idea of a syndrome of distinctive yuppie values and attitudes." In other words, certain stereotypes that in-group members (non yuppies) had towards he out-group members (yuppies) were true while others were false.

        Look at some of the selected web sites to draw your own conclusions about intergroup bias in politics. What does Joe Pierre infer about liberals on his "Right-wing Radical Red-neck Page?" How is the title mocking stereotypes that other groups have about conservatives? James Carville is a well known liberal/progressive political figure. The title of his new book, "We're Right, They're Wrong," is a good example of intergroup bias. It suggests that the arguments in the book are going to appeal to liberal/progressives. In fact, the title is specifically addressed to that group (notice "we're right, they're wrong"). If the social identity theory holds true, people in the liberal/progressive group would purchase this book in order to make them feel better about themselves and their beliefs.

        The Liberals & Libertarians site suggests that these "opposing" schools of thought have a lot in common and should be more cooperative with each other. Often with intergroup bias, in-group members' tendency to distance themselves ideologically from out-groups leads to diminished progress on social problems.
 
 
 
 
 

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