Party Over Policy: The Dominating Impact of Group Influence on Political Beliefs

Four studies demonstrated both the power of group influence in persuasion and people's blindness to it. Even under conditions of effortful processing, attitudes toward a social policy depended almost exclusively upon the stated position of one's political party. This effect overwhelmed the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2003-11, Vol.85 (5), p.808-822
Main Author: Cohen, Geoffrey L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Attitudes
Awareness
Biological and medical sciences
Comparative analysis
Denial (Psychology)
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Group Dynamics
Human
Humans
Influence
Male
Morality
Persuasion
Persuasive Communication
Philosophy
Political Affiliation
Political Attitudes
Political manifesto
Political Parties
Politics
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Public Policy
Social Cognition
Social Conformity
Social Facilitation
Social Identification
Social Identity
Social Influences
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social Policy
Social psychology
Social Welfare
Students - psychology
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Summary:Four studies demonstrated both the power of group influence in persuasion and people's blindness to it. Even under conditions of effortful processing, attitudes toward a social policy depended almost exclusively upon the stated position of one's political party. This effect overwhelmed the impact of both the policy's objective content and participants' ideological beliefs (Studies 1-3), and it was driven by a shift in the assumed factual qualities of the policy and in its perceived moral connotations (Study 4). Nevertheless, participants denied having been influenced by their political group, although they believed that other individuals, especially their ideological adversaries, would be so influenced. The underappreciated role of social identity in persuasion is discussed.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.808