The Need to Belong Drives Political Polarization

The need to belong drives are political behavior and beliefs. People gain a sense of belonging by identifying with their political party, embracing its positions even when it may be dangerous or ridiculousto do so. In some early research that we did on what we called the party over policy effect, people went with their party even when it defied ideological content or the factiual content of the policy. The position of their party trumped the impactof the policy content.