The article reports on a study examining how happiness and life satisfaction relate to alignment with government actions during a period of democratic backsliding, comparing Democrats and Republicans across five weeks of survey data. It finds that well-being tracks with support for the government’s policies, with Democrats showing an initial decline followed by a rebound, and Republicans maintaining higher well-being overall.

This topic is of interest to psychology readers because it highlights how political context and perceived alignment with political structures can influence well-being, illustrating concepts such as system justification, motivated cognition, and person-environment fit in real-world settings.

Article Title: The psychological divide between Democrats and Republicans during democratic backsliding

Link to PsyPost Article: https://www.psypost dot org/the-psychological-divide-between-democrats-and-republicans-during-democratic-backsliding/

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#wellBeing #politicalAffiliation #democraticBacksliding #systemJustification #hedonicAdaptation

People often support and justify social systems, even when those systems disadvantage them. But why?

In this new review article, we address this question using a social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA).

Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2022.2046422

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#SocialPsychology
#SocialScience
@socialpsych
#SocialIdentity
#SystemJustification

A social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA): Multiple explanations of system justification by the disadvantaged that do not depend on a separate system justification motive

System justification theory (SJT) assumes that social identity theory (SIT) cannot fully account for system justification by members of low-status (disadvantaged) groups. Contrary to this claim, we...

Taylor & Francis

Why do people support economic, social, and political systems that disadvantage them?

Our new work, led by @chuma_owuam, finds further evidence that system justification by the disadvantaged can be explained in terms of people's social identification with superordinate groups (e.g., national identification).

Open access: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366556944_Further_evidence_that_system_justification_amongst_the_disadvantaged_is_positively_related_to_superordinate_group_identification

#SocialPsychology
@socialpsych
#SystemJustification
#SocialIdentity
#SIMSA