In the study of political ideology, a debate has formed between two opposite sides, one side belief that there is a fundamental difference in the psychological process of rightist and leftists....Show moreIn the study of political ideology, a debate has formed between two opposite sides, one side belief that there is a fundamental difference in the psychological process of rightist and leftists. Those who oppose this, belief that there bias in research methods and there is not a difference for rightists and leftists. A study was conducted online, recruiting a sample of 388 participants from the United States United Kingdom, with the aim to find out if aggression differed between leftists and rightist in a context neutral situation. Using the game of Attack and Defense to provide a context neutral situation, the results showed that rightist were significantly more aggressive than leftists regardless of who they played against. However, when looking at aggression levels when playing against a member of an outgroup, the results contradicted what was hypothesized. Leftists were significantly more aggressive than rightists when playing against a member of their political outgroup.Show less
With the increase in polarization worldwide, the danger of democracies not working anymore and societies breaking apart has become an increasingly real prospect. Previous research concluded that,...Show moreWith the increase in polarization worldwide, the danger of democracies not working anymore and societies breaking apart has become an increasingly real prospect. Previous research concluded that, in general, Rightists tend to be more aggressive towards outgroup members than Leftists; recent studies, however, have challenged this by proposing affective responses are symmetrical in both groups. 200 Leftists and 200 Rightists were recruited from the United Kingdom and the United States with the aim of finding differences in aggression directed to ingroup and outgroup members. Using the Attacker-Defender Contest to assure context-neutrality and a mixed ANOVA to test for interactions between political ideology and aggression, results showed an increased rate of aggression towards outgroup members by Leftists only. Furthermore, a statistically significant interaction between political ideology and aggression was found.Show less
