Does Negative Group Information Moderate Ideological Identity? An Experimental Test

Karyn Amira

Social Science Quarterly, 2019, vol. 100, issue 5, 1623-1637

Abstract: Objective This study tests whether Americans moderate their ideological identity when exposed to news reports that present ideological activists negatively. I hypothesize that certain people will be more likely to do this: high self‐monitors and those with “issue constraint” (consistency in issue positions). Method Two survey experiments are conducted to test these hypotheses: one with a nationally representative sample and one with an online sample. Results Despite evidence that people moderate or opt out of other political identities in similar scenarios, I find no evidence this happens for ideological identification. This was the case even when the dependent variable was altered in the second experiment, making it easier for subjects to opt out of the identity. Conclusion These null findings provide evidence that dislodging people from ideological labels is difficult at this point in time. Ideology scholars should continue to test how resilient these identities are with different designs and manipulations.

Date: 2019
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