Political Polarization Projection: Social Projection of Attitude Extremity and Attitudinal Processes

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 103, No. 1, pp. 84–100, 2012

17 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2012 Last revised: 8 Dec 2012

See all articles by Leaf Van Boven

Leaf Van Boven

University of Colorado Boulder

Charles M. Judd

University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Psychology

David Sherman

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Date Written: February 29, 2012

Abstract

What influences perceptions of political polarization? The authors examine the polarization of people’s own political attitudes as a source of perceived polarization: Individuals with more extreme partisan attitudes perceive greater polarization than individuals with less extreme partisan attitudes. This “polarization projection” was demonstrated in three studies in which people estimated the distribution of others’ political attitudes: one study with a nationally representative sample concerning the 2008 Presidential election, and two studies concerning university students evaluating a policy regarding scarce resource allocation. These studies demonstrate that polarization projection occurs simultaneously with and independently of simple projection, the tendency to assume that others share one’s partisan political attitudes. Polarization projection may occur partly because people assume that others engage in similar attitudinal processes as the self, such as extensive thought and emotional arousal. The projection of attitudinal processes was demonstrated in a study concerning health care reform policies. Further supporting this explanation, polarization projection increased when people introspected about their own attitudinal processes, which increased the accessibility of those processes. Implications for perceptions of partisanship, social judgment, and civic behavior are discussed.

Keywords: attitude extremity, egocentrism, projection, polarization, politics

Suggested Citation

Van Boven, Leaf and Judd, Charles M. and Sherman, David, Political Polarization Projection: Social Projection of Attitude Extremity and Attitudinal Processes (February 29, 2012). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 103, No. 1, pp. 84–100, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1995215

Leaf Van Boven (Contact Author)

University of Colorado Boulder ( email )

University of Colorado Boulder
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, 345 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
United States
303.735.5238 (Phone)
303.492.2967 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://psych.colorado.edu/~vanboven/

Charles M. Judd

University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Psychology ( email )

Boulder, 80309
United States

David Sherman

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) ( email )

South Hall 5504
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
United States

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