Self-Concept, Identity, & Politics

Outside my house neighbors keep their political signs on their lawns or waving in the air as if they have not given up hope that their candidate who lost the election will find a way to show that the "win" granted to the opposition is false.

So many in the US have identified with a political party and its leader. This identification is going to have a predictable effect on self-esteem (one's value or worth) and one's self-concept. The effect may be temporary as other life activities force other identities to become more salient--such as the demands family, work, and school as well as the time-distance since the election.

This strong political identity illustrates the social context influencing the self and it also illustrates the limited stability of the self because every 2-4 years there may be a shift in party fortunes. Although some view the self as relatively stable, many studies show the impact of social contexts on our self-concept and those parts of the self-concept we refer to as social roles or identities. By identities I mean the way we affirm an identity when asked questions like "Are you an American?" Are you a Christian?" Are you a cat person?" "Do you have children or grandchildren?" and the like.

These other nonpolitical identities can be more salient for some than for others. For example, some find a sense of stability and cope with political losses by bolstering other self-identities as American or Christian. There is a tension here because we seem to want to view ourselves as relatively stable yet flexible. Some will say they voted for Republicans and Democrats in the past to assert an identity as Independent, and perhaps superior, to those who follow a party. In contrast, the party faithful may feel superior by pointing to the virtue of loyalty or to a particular party them like antiabortion or justice for the disenfranchised.

Self-Identity and Religious Identity

Religion is a powerful component of self-identity for many Americans. Their religious self-identity has been attacked in 2020 by whom they supported in the election. For example, evangelicals who widely supported the Republican president, pointed to important values like the sacred lives of the unborn and the hoped for protections with a conservative Supreme Court. Some did not deny the unChristian behavior of the candidate, which was routinely attacked in the press and by Christians who supported the Democratic leader. In contrast, those supporting the Democrats, bolstered their identity by emphasizing their focus on all lives and lower abortion rates when attacked by religious Republicans. Attacks increase the political identity as if that part of the self-concept becomes the most dominant component of the self.

Because so many self-identified evangelicals identified with the Republican party, other evangelicals have defended their faith. Others distanced themselves from the label preferring a different category like progressive or just "Christian."

Winner or Loser

Being identified as a winner or a loser affects one's value (self-worth) and concomitantly, one's identity, which is an important part of self-concept. There is only one winner and one loser. In ordinary life, many of us cope with some losses by saying "you can't win 'em all." But the election was billed as a battle of great importance. In fact, voter turn out, though low compared to the population, was high compared to the past.

The Influence of Self-Identity and Self-Concept

In thinking about the self-concepts and self-identity, the aftermath of the election a quote from Daphne Oyserman et al. (2012) makes sense.

"Experiments typically indicate that people go to great lengths to protect the images they have of themselves, ignoring or reinterpreting contradictory information and distancing themselves from the source of such information (Markus, 1977; Swann, 1983, 1985)." (Oyserman et al., 2012, p 16)

Eight years after the above quote, we see an example of "great lengths" as the American election of 2020 remains contested by a substantial minority rebelling against the majority consensus. Drawing on the scientific evidence, Oyserman is a social prophet.

Links to Connections

Checkout My Page    www.suttong.com

My Books  AMAZON          and             GOOGLE STORE

FOLLOW me on   FACEBOOK   GeoffW. Sutton   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

PINTEREST  www.pinterest.com/GeoffWSutton

Articles: Academia   GeoffW Sutton   

ResearchGate  Geoffrey W Sutton