Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2014 Jun 27. pii: 0146167214537834. [Epub ahead of print]
"Ditto Heads": Do Conservatives Perceive Greater Consensus Within Their Ranks Than Liberals?
Author information
- 1New York University, New York, USA cds330@nyu.edu.
- 2New York University, New York, USA.
- 3University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
In three studies, we examined (a) whether conservatives possess a stronger desire to share reality than liberals and are therefore more likely to perceive consensus with politically like-minded others even for non-political judgments and, if so, (b) whether motivated perceptions of consensus would give conservatives an edge in progressing toward collective goals. In Study 1, participants estimated ingroup consensus on non-political judgments. Conservatives perceived more ingroup consensus than liberals, regardless of the amount of actual consensus. The desire to share reality mediated the relationship between ideology and perceived ingroup consensus. Study 2 replicated these results and demonstrated that perceiving ingroup consensus predicted a sense of collective efficacy in politics. In Study 3, experimental manipulations of affiliative motives eliminated ideological differences in the desire to share reality. A sense of collective efficacy predicted intentions to vote in a major election. Implications for the attainment of shared goals are discussed.
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