Polarization: We see members of groups across the aisle as being our opposites on non-political dimensions & reflect personal preferences rather than empirical grop differences (preference for cats or dogs, or liking the color yellow)

When Polarization Triggers Out-Group “Counter-Projection” Across the Political Divide. Kathryn R. Denning, Sara D. Hodges. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, June 10, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211021211

Abstract: Although projecting one’s own characteristics onto another person is pervasive, “counter-projection,” or seeing the opposite of oneself in others is also sometimes found, with implications for intergroup conflict. After a focused review of previous studies finding counter-projection (often unexpectedly), we map conditions for counter-projection to an individual out-group member. Counter-projection requires identified antagonistic groups, is moderated by in-group identity, and is moderated by which information is assessed in the target person. Using political groups defined by support for former U.S. President Trump, across our Initial Experiment (N = 725) and Confirmatory Experiment (N = 618), we found counter-projection to individual political out-group targets for moral beliefs, personality traits, and everyday likes (e.g., preference for dogs vs. cats). Counter-projection was increased by in-group identification and overlapped considerably with “oppositional” out-group stereotypes, but we also found counter-projection independent of out-group stereotypes (degree of overlap with stereotyping depended on the information being projected).

Keywords: projection, politics, intergroup relations, polarization, stereotyping