Effects of race and political identity on interpersonal cooperation: A secondary analysis and replication
2025-06-10
The highly polarized nature of American politics today has been attributed, in part, to the power of partisanship as a social identity and the increasing alignment of party affiliation, political ideology, and other social identities. The overlap between political and racial identities in particular has been given much attention. The current report compares results from two cross‐categorization studies designed to (a) examine the relative weight of race and political identity in cooperative decision‐making and (b) to explore individual differences in pattern of response as a function of participant's own race and political ideology. Study 1 was a re‐analysis of data reported in an earlier research article by Ugular and colleagues (2023, Experiment 2) and Study 2 was a conceptual replication with some modifications. Results from both studies revealed significant interactions between participant identities and partner characteristics such that the relative effects of partner race and partner political ideology on cooperative behavior differed as a function of the combined racial (Black or White) and political (liberal or conservative) identity of the respondent. Similarities and differences in the pattern of results between the two studies are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of political polarization.