Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: The current political system in the United States is marked by extreme levels of partisan hostility and polarization, which has not only resulted in a dysfunctional congress, but also increasing conflict between partisan groups in the general electorate. While political scientists have offered various explanations for this phenomenon, social-psychological theories provide opportunities for empirical investigation of psychological explanatory factors. This study applied Betancourt’s attribution-emotion model of conflict and violence to the ultimate attribution error in order to develop a contemporary and comprehensive understanding of the psychological factors relevant to partisan-based intergroup relations. Five hundred sixty-four participants from various demographic backgrounds were recruited using snowball convenience sampling. When participants read a hypothetical news article involving a congressperson from an opposing political party acting in an antisocial manner, the congressperson’s behavior was attributed as more intentional than when participants read an identical news article involving a congressperson from the same political party. Structural equation modeling also confirmed that attributions of intentionality and controllability influenced social judgments and voting intentions directly, and indirectly through anger. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for studying political polarization and bipartisan cooperation from a social-psychological perspective, as well as contributions to the body of knowledge regarding attribution theory in general, and the ultimate attribution error in specific.
Author: Daniel Joel Northington
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2336059229