Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions

The default ideological position is status quo maintaining, and challenging the status quo is associated with increased efforts and risks. Nonetheless, some people choose to challenge the status quo. Therefore, to challenge the status quo should imply a strong belief in one’s position as the correct...

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Main Authors: Emma A. Bäck, Torun Lindholm
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology 2014-05-01
Series:Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/158
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author Emma A. Bäck
Torun Lindholm
author_facet Emma A. Bäck
Torun Lindholm
author_sort Emma A. Bäck
collection DOAJ
description The default ideological position is status quo maintaining, and challenging the status quo is associated with increased efforts and risks. Nonetheless, some people choose to challenge the status quo. Therefore, to challenge the status quo should imply a strong belief in one’s position as the correct one, and thus efforts may be undertaken to undermine the position of others. Study 1 (N = 311) showed that challengers undermined, by ascribing more externality and less rationality, the position of defenders to a larger extent than defenders did of challengers’ position. Studies 2 (N = 135) and 3 (N = 109) tested if these effects were driven by the implied minority status of the challenging position. Results revealed no effects of experimentally manipulated numerical status, but challengers were again more biased than defenders. Study 3 also revealed that challengers felt more negatively toward their opponents (possibly due to greater social identification with like-minded others), and these negative emotions in turn predicted biased attributions. Results are important as they add to the understanding of how intergroup conflict may arise, providing explanations for why challengers are less tolerant of others’ point of view.
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spelling doaj.art-8d93ac7f465146409e5f730fa6f7e5292023-01-02T05:44:05ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyJournal of Social and Political Psychology2195-33252014-05-0121779710.5964/jspp.v2i1.158jspp.v2i1.158Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup PerceptionsEmma A. Bäck0Torun Lindholm1Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, SwedenDepartment of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenThe default ideological position is status quo maintaining, and challenging the status quo is associated with increased efforts and risks. Nonetheless, some people choose to challenge the status quo. Therefore, to challenge the status quo should imply a strong belief in one’s position as the correct one, and thus efforts may be undertaken to undermine the position of others. Study 1 (N = 311) showed that challengers undermined, by ascribing more externality and less rationality, the position of defenders to a larger extent than defenders did of challengers’ position. Studies 2 (N = 135) and 3 (N = 109) tested if these effects were driven by the implied minority status of the challenging position. Results revealed no effects of experimentally manipulated numerical status, but challengers were again more biased than defenders. Study 3 also revealed that challengers felt more negatively toward their opponents (possibly due to greater social identification with like-minded others), and these negative emotions in turn predicted biased attributions. Results are important as they add to the understanding of how intergroup conflict may arise, providing explanations for why challengers are less tolerant of others’ point of view.http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/158intergroup biasesstatus quoposition effectsnumerical status
spellingShingle Emma A. Bäck
Torun Lindholm
Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
intergroup biases
status quo
position effects
numerical status
title Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions
title_full Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions
title_fullStr Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions
title_full_unstemmed Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions
title_short Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions
title_sort defending or challenging the status quo position effects on biased intergroup perceptions
topic intergroup biases
status quo
position effects
numerical status
url http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/158
work_keys_str_mv AT emmaaback defendingorchallengingthestatusquopositioneffectsonbiasedintergroupperceptions
AT torunlindholm defendingorchallengingthestatusquopositioneffectsonbiasedintergroupperceptions