Journal of Social and Political Psychology

Constructive Patriotism Predicts Voting Intentions: Evidence From State Parliamentary, EU Parliamentary, and Presidential Elections Across Different EU Countries

Mirjana Rupar, Maciej Sekerdej, Katarzyna Jamróz-Dolińska, Barbora Hubená — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 -0700

In the present research, we investigated the link between different forms of national identification (i.e., constructive patriotism, glorification, and conventional patriotism) and intentions to vote in state parliamentary elections in Poland and Spain (Study 1, N = 1,270), presidential elections in Croatia (Study 2, N = 640), and elections for the EU Parliament in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Croatia (Study 3, N = 1,238). In Study 3, we additionally measured European identity. Moreover, we asked about actual voting behavior in Poland (Studies 1 and 3) and Croatia (Studies 2 and 3). The results consistently show that constructive patriotism is linked with greater intentions to vote in all types of elections and across all countries, and with a greater likelihood of voting in state parliamentary elections. In contrast, conventional patriotism had no link with intentions to vote or with actual voting behaviour in any type of election in any of the countries studied. Glorification was linked to lower intentions to vote only in state parliamentary elections. European identity was linked with greater intentions to vote in EU elections. Overall, our results suggest that constructive patriotism is a form of national identification that has particular electoral relevance.

“The First Jewish Person I’ve Ever Met”: Insights From a Field Study on Jewish–non-Jewish Contact in Germany

Fiona Kazarovytska, Dana Ionescu — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0700

What happens when non-Jewish Germans, most of whom do not know any Jews personally, meet a Jew? We present field data from a nationwide intervention program that promotes dialogue between Jewish volunteers and non-Jewish people in Germany. Applying a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed responses from N = 385 attendees who served as initiators of the intervention for a larger group. The initiators shared their insights into the opinion of the group regarding the intervention, along with the feedback they received from the group. Compared to before the intervention, the attitudes of intervention attendees toward Jews were perceived by initiators as significantly more positive both up to one month after the intervention, and at the end of the year in which the intervention took place. Mediation analyses indicated that perspective-taking (rather than increased intergroup knowledge or reduced anxiety) was the most important intermediate factor for this outcome. A qualitative content analysis corroborated the primacy of perspective-taking, and shed light on further factors contributing to a (non-)successful intervention. We discuss the relevance of direct contact experiences in a context in which interactions between non-Jewish and Jewish people are limited but narratives of historical intergroup crimes are omnipresent.

Affirmative Action Alters Identity-Related Psychological Processes: A Phenomenological Study in South Africa

Babar Dharani — Wed, 22 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

As group identities form, they construct social structures. Reciprocally, policies that alter social structures also influence an individual’s identity-related psychological processes. This study investigated how affirmative action, by changing external social structures, affects identity-related psychological processes. Twenty-seven participants were furnished with a survey in which they listed twelve of their identities and evaluated each identity’s significance toward continuity, belonging, self-perception, distinctiveness, and meaning. Thereafter, detailed write-ups of their lived experiences in spaces with affirmative action were gathered. A thematic analysis revealed that affirmative action affected both identity enactment and self-verification processes. These included changing (1) the degree of centrality and salience of identity categories such as racial versus national identity (2) intergenerational continuity and continuity across spaces (3) striving for distinctiveness in those perceived as benefiting from the policy (4) self-perceptions based on self- or policy-attribution of success or failure experiences, and (5) forging of meaning for ‘pioneers’ among beneficiaries of the policy. Based on the similarity of experiences related to affirmative action, the study shares subgroups within those benefiting from the policy that highlight the significance of (1) perceptions about the policy and (2) self- versus policy-attribution by individuals in altering their identity-related psychological processes.

The Effects of Social Versus Economic Ideology Similarity Information on Explicit and Implicit Political Person Perception

Rachel S. Rubinstein, Jarrod E. Bock — Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

We tested among Democratic and Republican perceivers the relative effects of social vs. economic ideology similarity information about individual members of the opposing party (i.e., information suggesting that a member of the opposing party has similar social or economic ideological views as the perceiver) on explicit and implicit affective polarization in evaluations of these target individuals and on perceived worldview conflict with these individuals. In Studies 1a and 1b, both types of ideology information reduced explicit affective polarization on some measures. Among both Democratic and Republican perceivers, the two types of similarity information were equally effective at reducing overall worldview conflict. Neither type of ideology information shifted implicit affective polarization (Studies 2a and 2b).

Beyond Redemption: A Critical Analysis of The Sun’s Construction of Prisons and Prisoners Through the Lens of Social Representations Theory

Harry M. Lewis — Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Whilst there is some research into the media’s coverage of the British penal system, little is conducted through the lens of social psychology. This study employs social representations theory in order to examine British tabloid newspaper The Sun’s contribution to the public understanding of prisons and prisoners from a psychological perspective. The data consists of 34 articles published within the month of March 2017 which were analysed using a modified version of Foucauldian discourse analysis. It was found that The Sun’s coverage of the penal system contributed to a construction of prisons as both out of control and as providing prisoners with an easy life, and a construction of prisoners as both inherently dangerous and undeserving. These constructions contribute to a social representation of prisoners as ‘beyond redemption’. The implications of these findings are considered in light of the subject positions offered and the opportunities for action provided.

A Comprehensive Model for Predicting Populist Attitudes

Ivana Piterová, Alexander Loziak — Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Populist attitudes are multi-causal, but their determinants are often studied separately, in small groups, or in different samples. This study presents a comprehensive model for the prediction of populist attitudes using a single sample. We use an ideological approach and measure of populist attitudes as anti-elitism, popular sovereignty, and homogeneity, while the differences between the elite and the people are Manichean. Analyzing a sample based on a representative quota for gender, age, education and region of Slovakia (N = 254), it was found that relative deprivation, belief in simple solutions, external political efficacy, trust towards experts, and conspiracy mentality were significant predictors of populist attitudes after controlling for other variables. The effect of education and subjective income faded out after adding variables into the model. The model explained 54% of the variance in populist attitudes. The results are discussed in detail with respect to its limitations and country specifics.

Editorial Report and Acknowledgement of Reviewers, 2023

J. Christopher Cohrs, Ana Figueiredo, Idhamsyah Eka Putra, Johanna Ray Vollhardt — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:57:39 -0800

No abstract available.

Are Today's Young People Active Citizens? A Study of Their Sensitivity to Socio-Political Issues and Their Social Participation

Anna Zlobina, María Celeste Dávila, Maria Barbolla Zapater — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

This article focuses on two facets of young people's active citizenship: their experience of being impacted by socio-political events and their participation behaviour. The idea that underlies the study is that to better understand the relationship between young people's perception of socio-political reality and their multiple ways of exercising active citizenship, we need to conceptualize more broadly what constitutes "the political". Since today's youth engagement includes many different forms, research should focus on what young citizens themselves experience as impacting, going beyond traditional measures of political interest. We conducted a survey among university students (N = 969, 72.7% female) in Spain that included an open-ended question about events that had particularly impacted them in the past year and measures of their experience and willingness to engage in conventional and unconventional political and civic participation. The content analysis established four categories of impacting events: "national politics" and "international politics", which correlated with conventional political participation; events categorized as "social life" and "social justice" were associated with unconventional/civic participation. The results also suggest that most of the participants are, in fact, active citizens, which challenges the view of young people as "disaffected citizens". We conclude that the analysis of their specific socio-political sensitivities helps to understand the intensity and concrete orientation of their actions.

The Terrible Unknown: How Uncertainty Fosters Nationalist and Anti-Immigration Attitudes

Sara G. Alves, Isabel R. Pinto, José M. Marques — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Uncertainty-identity theory (Hogg, 2000, 2007, 2012) postulates that people strengthen their adherence to, and identification with, extreme ideologies when they undergo an enduring uncertainty regarding their self-definition. Concomitantly, nationalist and extreme right-wing ideologies have been associated with the attribution of a threatening character to immigrant and refugee groups. We propose that self-uncertainty precedes the perceived threat posed by the latter groups, which in turn predicts adherence to nationalist attitudes. In one correlational (Study 1; n = 169) and one experimental study (Study 2; n = 309), we tested the mediational effects of perceived realistic and symbolic threat towards immigrants on the association between self-uncertainty and nationalist attitudes (belief in national superiority, support for anti-immigration laws and intention to vote for an anti-immigration party). In both studies, perceived realistic threat emerged as the most reliable mediator between self-uncertainty and nationalist attitudes. In addition (Study 2), we found a causal effect of self-uncertainty on realistic threat. We discuss the implications of these findings for social inclusion policies based on the reduction of uncertainty generated by immigration.

Heterosexist System Justification: Identity and Ideology Explain Variability in Sexual Minorities’ Opposition to Homophobia and Support for LGBTQ+ Rights

Mark R. Hoffarth, Usman Liaquat, John T. Jost — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

We hypothesized that because politically conservative ideology legitimizes the status quo—including heteronormative institutions and arrangements—it should be negatively associated with in-group identification, opposition to homophobia, and support for LGBTQ+ rights among sexual minorities. These hypotheses, which were derived from system justification theory, were assessed in large US samples of sexual minority respondents. In Study 1 (N = 4,530) and Study 2 (N = 1,107), we observed that more conservative sexual minorities expressed weaker sexual identification, and, relatedly, less support for same-sex marriage and adoption and other rights and privileges, as well as less participation in collective action in favor of LGBTQ+ rights. In Study 3 (N = 446), heterosexist system justification was associated with decreased sexual identification and support for LGBTQ+ rights. In all studies, identity and ideology accounted for unique variance in support for vs. opposition to LGBTQ+ rights. Implications for the politics of sexual identity and collective action among disadvantaged groups are discussed.