Free Republic

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...

New research sheds light on how people resolve inconsistencies between their own moral views and that of their preferred candidate. The findings, published in Political Psychology, suggest that U.S. voters on both sides of the political aisle tend to revise their perceptions of political leaders they support to align with their own moral beliefs. The study, which examined the 2016 U.S. presidential election, also found that Republicans, but not Democrats, appeared to revise their own moral beliefs to reduce incongruities with Donald Trump. “A lot of work in political science research shows how voters are often ‘followers,’ adjusting their views...