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...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
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 |
_version_ | 1797971567356936192 |
---|---|
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. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:33:32Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-8d93ac7f465146409e5f730fa6f7e529 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2195-3325 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:33:32Z |
publishDate | 2014-05-01 |
publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
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 |