This article analyzes the process through which partisan bias arises during the formation of citizens' judgments of political responsibility. Informed by theories of motivated political reasoning, it argues that exposure to partisan cues motivates partisans to pursue directional goals, goals which bias the cognitive processing of information and, in turn, overall judgments of responsibility. It further argues that the nature of this biased processing will be such that partisans devalue information inconsistent with their partisan affect. Using a pair of experiments, I test these hypotheses by manipulating both objective evidence concerning gubernatorial responsibility for a state's fiscal imbalance and the presence of partisan cues. Findings support both sets of expectations. The results also suggest that the effects of partisan bias are greater in judgments tied to institutional actions than in those tied to institutional roles and expectations.
Political Psychology is an interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the analysis of the interrelationships between psychological and political processes. The field draws on diverse disciplinary sources including cultural and psychological anthropology, cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, economics, history, international relations, philosophy, political science, political theory, psychology of personality, social psychology, and sociology.
International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) is an interdisciplinary organization representing all fields of inquiry concerned with exploring the relationships between political and psychological processes. Members include psychologists, political scientists, psychiatrists, historians, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, as well as journalists, government officials and others. The Society is also international, with members from all regions of the world: the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
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Political Psychology
© 2006 International Society of Political Psychology