Political identity bias in interpersonal attitudes: Explaining affective polarisation in the 2023 Spanish general election
Sesgo de identidad política en las actitudes interpersonales: explicando la polarización afectiva en las elecciones generales españolas de 2023
Ismael Crespo-Martínez
,
Alberto Mora-Rodríguez
,
José Miguel Rojo-Martínez
Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, (2024), 56, pp. 233-241.
Received 8 June 2024
Accepted 20 January 2025
Introducción: Este artículo pretende comprobar qué influye más en la polarización afectiva (PA) en un sistema multipartidista como el español: la identidad partidista o la ideología. Para ello, revisamos la validez del enfoque expresivo del partidismo y ponemos a prueba los sesgos que pueden provocar las identidades políticas. Método: Utilizamos una medida estricta basada en un termómetro de sentimientos hacia personas corrientes en función del partido al que votan y de su ideología y proponemos una fórmula para estimar los niveles de diferencia en el afecto político interpersonal (DIPA). Posteriormente, se desarrollaron modelos de regresión lineal a partir de los datos de una encuesta nacional representativa por muestreo realizada durante la campaña electoral de las elecciones generales de julio de 2023 (n = 1223). Resultados: El partidismo positivo fuerte influye de manera destacada en la PA individual tanto cuando las actitudes se expresan hacia grupos partidistas como hacia grupos ideológicos. Esto contradice el discurso generalizado sobre la primacía de la ideología en los sistemas multipartidistas europeos. Además, mostramos que el solapamiento entre estas dos identidades no es significativo para explicar el fenómeno. Conclusión: La PA es un fenómeno basado en la identidad de grupo incluso fuera de Estados Unidos, lo que nos invita a interpretarla utilizando las teorías de la psicología social.
Palabras clave:
Partidismo, relaciones intergrupales, polarización afectiva, identidad social, sesgos endogrupales, actitudes interpersonales
Introduction: This paper aims to test which has a greater influence on affective polarisation (AP) in a multiparty system such as the Spanish one: partisan identity or ideology. In doing so, we review the validity of the expressive approach to partisanship and we test the biases that political identities can cause. Method: We use a strict measure based on a feeling thermometer regarding ordinary people depending on the party they vote for and their ideology and we propose a formula to estimate the levels of difference in interpersonal political affect (DIPA). Subsequently, linear regression models were developed using data from a national representative sample survey conducted during the election campaign for the July 2023 general elections (n = 1,223). Results: Strong positive partisanship influences individual AP in a prominent way both when attitudes are expressed towards partisan or ideological groups. This contradicts the widespread discourse regarding the primacy of ideology in European multiparty systems. Moreover, we show that the overlapping between these two identities is not significant in explaining the phenomenon. Conclusion: AP is a group identity-based phenomenon even outside the U.S, which invites us to interpret it using the theories of social psychology.
Keywords:
Partisanship, intergroup relations, affective polarisation, social identity, ingroup bias, interpersonal attitudes
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