On Attributing Negative Motives to Others Who Disagree With Our Opinions

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 31; no. 11; pp. 1498 - 1510
• Main Authors: Reeder, Glenn D., Pryor, John B., Wohl, Michael J. A., Griswell, Michael L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2005; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Attitude; Attitudes; Bush, George; Canada; Ego; Female; Humans; Intention; Learning; Male; Motivation; Perceptions; Persian Gulf War; Politics; Prejudice; Presidents; Psychological tests; Psychological Theory; Social Identification; Social Perception; Social psychology; United States; Canada; United States; United States > US; Iraq; motive; attribution; interpersonal perception; egocentrism; ingroup; outgroup; intention

The research explores the tendency for people to attribute negative motives to others who hold an attitude position that is discrepant from their own. In Studies 1 and 2, American and Canadian respondents indicated their perceptions of U.S. President Bush’s motives for initiating war in Iraq. Consis...