Politicization as an antecedent of polarization: Evidence from two different political and national contexts

The meaning of respect under varying context conditions

The concept of respect figures prominently in several theories on intergroup relations. Previous studies suggested that the experience of being respected is primarily related to the feeling of being recognized as an equal, as opposed to social recognition of needs or achievements. Those studies focused, however, on either minority groups or ad hoc groups, thereby possibly giving equality recognition an advantage. This article extends previous findings by comparing societal groups situated in various contexts. We examined eight groups from four countries. We anticipated and found that the link between respect and equality recognition was stronger for groups that are in the position of minorities compared to groups associated with majorities. Owing to the moral and legal force of the norm of equality, disadvantaged minorities in particular might be able to improve their societal position by founding their claims on the equality principle. Need recognition, in contrast, was less influential for minority groups than for majority groups. While we observed these context-dependent variations, an internal meta-analysis showed that feeling recognized as an equal was, overall, the strongest indicator for feeling respected. This suggests that demands for respect could often be addressed by establishing relationships in society that are based on mutual recognition as equals, while the implications of achievement and need recognition should additionally be considered in specific contexts.

Does Respect Foster Tolerance? (Re)analyzing and Synthesizing Data From a Large Research Project Using Meta-Analytic Techniques

Our own prior research has demonstrated that respect for disapproved others predicts and might foster tolerance toward them. This means that without giving up their disapproval of others' way of life, people can tolerate others when they respect them as equals (outgroup respect-tolerance hypothesis). Still, there was considerable variation in the study features. Moreover, the studies are part of a larger research project that affords many additional tests of our hypothesis. To achieve integration along with a more robust understanding of the relation between respect and tolerance, we (re)analyzed all existing data from this project, and we synthesized the results with the help of meta-analytic techniques. The average standardized regression coefficient, which describes the relationship between respect and tolerance, was 0.25 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.16, 0.34]). In addition to this overall confirmation of our hypothesis, the size of this coefficient varied with a number of variables. It was larger for numerical majorities than for minorities, smaller for high-status than for low-status groups, and larger for religious than for life-style groups. These findings should inspire further theory development and spur growth in the social-psychological literature on tolerance.

Targeting our blind spot: A metacognitive intervention ameliorates negative feelings, evaluations, and stereotypes towards conservatives in a liberal sample

Political polarization between conservatives and liberals threatens democratic societies. Ameliorating liberal research participants’ negative feelings, evaluations, and stereotypes towards conservatives might be one step into the direction of a political depolarization. In a sample of U.S.-American liberal research participants recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (N = 271), we randomly assigned participants in a pre-post-design either to a clinical-psychological, metacognitive-intervention (MCT), an educational, or a no-treatment-no-pre-measurement-control-condition. In the MCT-condition, participants were first asked seemingly simple questions that frequently elicited incorrect responses, followed by corrective information. In the educational condition, information was conveyed in a simple narrative form. MCT was significantly more effective in ameliorating liberal participants’ negative feelings, evaluations, and stereotypes towards conservatives compared to the other two control-conditions. Further, MCT-participants significantly reduced their negative feelings, negative evaluations, and perceptions of threat from pre- to post-measurement, significantly more than participants in the educational condition. The results of our preliminary study and its implications are discussed, and recommendations for further research are made.

Dynamics of respect: Evidence from two different national and political contexts

In (post-)modern, plural societies, consisting of numerous subgroups, mutual respect between groups plays a central role for a constructive social and political life. In this article, we examine whether group members’ perception of being respected by outgroups fosters respect for these outgroups. In Study 1, we employed a panel sample of supporters of the Tea Party movement in the United States (N = 422). In Study 2, we employed a panel sample of members of the LGBTI community in Germany (N = 262). As disapproved target outgroups, we chose in Study 1 homosexuals in the United States, while in Study 2, we chose supporters of the German populist, right-wing political party „Alternative für Deutschland“. Our studies thus constituted a complementary, nearly symmetrical constellation of a liberal group and a conservative political group each. Among Tea Party movement supporters, respect from a disapproved outgroup consistently predicted respect for that outgroup. Among German LGBTI community members, this effect of respect from a disapproved outgroup was found in some of our analyses. For this latter sample, there was furthermore a tendency of societal respect to predict respect for a disapproved outgroup longitudinally. Additionally, we observed for both of our samples that respect from other ingroup members decreased respect for a disapproved outgroup. The dynamics of mutual respect in these two complementary intergroup contexts are discussed as well as the importance of direct intergroup reciprocity and superordinate group membership as routes to mutual respect.

A new perspective on intergroup conflict: The social psychology of politicized struggles for recognition

The article offers a new perspective on intergroup conflict. While building on social psychological foundations laid down in self-categorization theory, it is also critically informed by and incorporates insights from the neighboring disciplines of social, political, and moral philosophy. The new perspective is organized around the principal working hypothesis that many intergroup conflicts, especially those in modern, culturally diverse societies, can be fruitfully understood as politicized struggles for recognition. In addition, four more specific corollary hypotheses are proposed concerning polarization, respected collective identity, embedded dual identity, and tolerance. The new perspective shifts researchers’ attention to the multi-level nature of intergroup conflict and to the novel concepts of recognition and identity as a different equal.