Priming us and them: automatic assimilation and contrast in group attitudes

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Attitude Formation
• Social Judgment Theory

Background:

• Social judgment theory posits that personal attitudes serve as reference points for judging others.
• This research extends the theory by exploring how reference groups influence an individual's own attitudes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how exposure to ingroups and outgroups affects attitude polarization.
• To determine the conditions under which group salience leads to attitude assimilation versus contrast.

Main Methods:

• Three studies utilized subliminal priming with political ingroups and outgroups.
• Specific prime types were employed to elicit assimilation and contrast.
• Perceived closeness to a target group (the elderly) was manipulated as a boundary condition.

Main Results:

• Priming with political ingroups or outgroups led to more extreme political attitudes compared to controls.
• Assimilation and contrast effects were enhanced by specific prime types.
• Perceived closeness to the elderly moderated the direction and strength of attitude change.

Conclusions:

• Group salience can drive attitude assimilation or contrast, transitioning from context to comparison.
• Findings have implications for understanding social judgment, attitude change, and conflict escalation.