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On Sanders, Trump, and rhinoceroses: Quantifying subjective construals helps predict political attitudes
Author(s) -
Ponizovskiy Vladimir
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/bjso.12516
Subject(s) - construals , psychology , moderation , social psychology , value (mathematics) , construct (python library) , politics , voting , construal level theory , political science , machine learning , computer science , law , programming language
Abstract People with different worldviews may have different interpretations for the same object. Freedom fighters for some are terrorists for others; immigrants can be seen as a threat or being threatened. To incorporate differences in interpretations into quantitative models, I propose the construct of value‐instantiating beliefs, or perceived consequences of actions for basic human values. I hypothesize that these beliefs moderate the relationship between personal values and attitudes. In a preregistered mixed‐methods study ( N = 2038) I assess personal value priorities, attitudes, and perceived consequences of four political behaviours. Beliefs about consequences of the behaviours differed with political affiliation: for example, liberals saw voting for Trump in light of negative consequences for universalistic values, while conservatives stressed positive consequences for self‐direction and security. The moderation hypothesis was confirmed. Including value‐instantiating beliefs in the models significantly improved the predictions of attitudes towards and intentions to perform the behaviours.