People See Political Opponents as More Stupid Than Evil

Abstract

Affective polarization is a rising threat to political discourse and democracy. Public figures have expressed that "conservatives think liberals are stupid, and liberals think conservatives are evil." However, four studies (N = 1,660)-including a representative sample-reveal evidence that both sides view political opponents as more unintelligent than immoral. Perceiving the other side as "more stupid than evil" occurs both in general judgments (Studies 1, 3, and 4) and regarding specific issues (Study 2). Study 4 also examines "meta-perceptions" of how Democrats and Republicans disparage one another, revealing that people correctly perceive that both Democrats and Republicans see each other as more unintelligent than immoral, although they exaggerate the extent of this negativity. These studies clarify the way everyday partisans view each other, an important step in designing effective interventions to reduce political animosity.

Keywords: affective polarization; meta-perceptions; political polarization; social perceptions.

Figure 1.

Density plot of ratings by type and target.

Figure 2.

Unintelligence and immorality correlations. Note. In Studies 1 through 4, the correlation between ratings of unintelligence and immorality is weaker for outgroup ratings than for ingroup ratings. These results suggest that a two-factor approach has more utility for outgroup ratings than for ingroup ratings; for ingroup ratings, little additional variance in ratings is captured by the two-factor model (compared with a one-factor model in which ratings are simply “negative.”). Error bars represent 95% CIs. CI = confidence interval.

Figure 3.

Perceived unintelligence and immorality of liberals and conservatives. Note. Estimated marginal means for perceptions as a function of political ideology, group, and rating type. Gray boxes represent 95% confidence intervals. Elephants and donkeys represent the groups being rated (conservatives and liberals, respectively).

Figure 4.

Perceived unintelligence and immorality of liberals and conservatives. Note. There was a marginal three-way interaction between political ideology, group, and rating type. Both liberals and conservatives view each other as more unintelligent than immoral. Gray boxes represent 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 5.

Perceived unintelligence and immorality of democrats and republicans.

Figure 6.

Illustration of perceptions and meta-perceptions. Note. Democrats and Republicans rated their ingroups’ and outgroups’ unintelligence and immorality (perceptions), as well as their meta-perceptions for how the two groups view each other and themselves.

Figure 7.

Personal perceptions and meta-perceptions of unintelligence and immorality. Note. Perceptions and meta-perceptions by political party, rating type, and rating target. Gray boxes represent 95% confidence intervals. Participants rated their perceptions of ingroups and outgroups (top panel) and meta-perceptions of outgroups (bottom left) and ingroups (bottom right). Elephants represent Republicans and Donkeys represent Democrats. The first bar on the bottom left (2a), for example, represents Democrat participants’ meta-perceptions of how Republicans view Democrats’ unintelligence.