Posted on 10/21/2024 8:33:51 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
A recent study in the British Journal of Social Psychology offers new insights into why some people view their political opponents in dehumanizing ways. The researchers found that political narcissism, rather than political identification alone, is strongly linked to seeing outgroups as less human. Both liberals and conservatives are susceptible to this behavior when their connection to their political group is driven by a sense of grandiosity and insecurity.
Political polarization has become a significant problem in many democracies worldwide, leading to greater hostility between political factions. This growing division often results in negative partisanship, where people express stronger dislike for opposing political groups than positive feelings toward their own.
Scholars have long debated whether conservatives or liberals are more prone to such biases, but this study aimed to shift the focus from ideological differences to the nature of how individuals identify with their political groups. Specifically, the researchers wanted to explore whether political narcissism, rather than political identification itself, leads to the dehumanization of political opponents.
“We were intrigued by how both liberals/Democrats and conservatives/Republicans can exhibit similar psychological patterns, particularly regarding political conflict,” said study author Marta Marchlewska, an associate professor and head of the Political Cognition Lab at the Polish Academy of Sciences.
“Central to this phenomenon is political collective narcissism, characterized by an inflated sense of superiority about one’s own political group. This mindset fosters blatant dehumanization, leading individuals to view opponents as less than human and to strip away empathy. Understanding these dynamics reveals how shared psychological processes contribute to escalating hostility across the political spectrum.”
Still, I do not hate democrats. I just won't vote for them.
I find democrats dehumanizing anyone who disagrees with them.
I find conservatives pointing out the similarities between democrats and the communists responsible for inspiring a Soviet citizen for writing the book: Anti-Humans
Socialists are like the raiders in ancient history that would invade a town to pillage and burn. Instead of creating their own life, they work to take from others.
I find it hard to empathize with them.
Mostly liberals.
Well, since the left is comparing Trump to electing Hitler I would say there is some bias in the media there...
All psychobabble aside, I do not dehumanize liberals. Christ shed His Blood for each one of them, so they’re not only infinitely human, they’re infinitely valuable.
I must say, though: liberals do dehumanize me.
What I do with liberals is that I become highly critical (and aghast) toward their insistence on a thought-life entirely based on fantasies: marxism, darwinism, freudianism and the climate change delusion.
Psychologists are nuts.
They think someone like Obama is a genius.
They have met so few truly accomplished individuals (people in academics with lofty titles are usually densely stupid and devoid of true accomplishment, though most people think of them as geniuses.)
It's beyond funny that because of Trump's mannerisms they miss entirely that he is a genius. So funny.
Richard Feynman had a hierarchy of the sciences:
Physics is applied mathematics. Chemistry is applied physics. Biology is applied chemistry. Psychology is a bunch of witch doctors
Richard Feynman had a hierarchy of the sciences:
Physics is applied mathematics. Chemistry is applied physics. Biology is applied chemistry. Psychology is a bunch of witch doctors
The way you treat others will always be determined by your relationship with God.
The democrats as a party. and many republicans, have some considering to do.
Most of the Right has a God. Dehumanizing others is a no no. The dehumanization started decades ago when the Left began call anyone who disagreed with them evil or crazy. Period. Now, the Left are implacable, and as such, must eventually be dealt with in a way that may seem that they are dehumanized but it is not so.
Uh huh.
The "both sides do it" canard is only used by leftists when they can't avoid hiding and/or explaining their virtually exclusive bad behavior.
Your Jedi mind trick won't work on us ... BOY.
Agree!!!
I don’t want to dehumanize the leftist enemy; just to educate them or keep them irrelevant.
I think social media, in general, has caused people to dehumanize people who are on the other side of the political divide. I agree it is more prevalent among liberals dehumanizing conservatives, but conservatives do it too. When future historians look back at our current era, social media is going to be viewed as a cancer.
So do I.
That’s true, but I wonder if repackaging the phenomenon as “political narcissism” obscures at least as much as it clarifies. It’s more likely to provide a cliche that one can throw at opponents than an understanding of what’s really going on.
I don’t enjoy seeing anyone, even murderers, die. My feeling is more of pity and sorrow for a God given life wasted. That does NOT mean I don’t want murderers executed or the political left—the type of people responsible for hundreds of millions of needless deaths in the 20th century—politically destroyed. It’s possible to love one’s enemies but to also be resolute in opposition to them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.