Partisanship and the status quo

Individuals advancing the status quo in partisan conflict are more favorabl y evaluated compared to individuals advocating change (Keltner & Robinson, 1997). We explore two aspects of this intergroup bias:first, a target effec t whereby groups who aim to change the status quo are judged more negativel y than those favoring its preservation; and second, an observer effect wher eby those favoring the status quo define the conflict in terms of the statu s quo versus change to a greater extent than those advancing change. We sou ght to extend our understanding of these partisan effects via a minimal-gro up induction of partisanship in the laboratory. In our study,, participants viewed a negotiation between two group representatives, where half of the groups either defended the status quo or advocated change. As predicted, pa rtisan observers: (a)favored the negotiator advancing the status quo (consi stent with the target effect), (b) were more likely, to attribute actions t o the negotiators as stemming from their status quo versus change preferenc e when they themselves were aligned with the status quo rather than change (consistent with the observer effect), and (c) when aligned with the status quo, expected a more effortful conflict than those seeking change (consist ent with the observer effect). It is suggested that these biased perception s are basic to intergroup, partisan processes involving change. Copyright ( C) 2001 John Wiley, & Sons, Ltd.