?
Как идеологическая поляризация сказывается на семейных отношениях? Роль воспринимаемого психологического климата
Context and relevance. Previous studies have shown that ideological polarization negatively affects family and romantic relationships. Individuals have a more negative attitude toward family members and romantic partners they perceive as political opponents than toward those they see as political like-minded individuals. However, the psychological mechanisms of this connection are not fully understood.
Objective. To analyze the relationship between ideological polarization, basic psychological needs satisfaction, and family relationships.
Hypothesis. Ideological polarization between family members is negatively associated with the quality of family relationships. This connection is mediated by political discussions that frustrate basic psychological needs.
Methods and materials. Respondents were recruited on the Yandex-Zadaniya online platform. The sample included 513 citizens; 48,5% identified as male and 51,5% as female; participants' ages ranged from 18 to 64 (M = 38,96, SD = 9,88). Participants selected a family member with whom they discuss social issues and indicated the degree of similarity between their views and those of that person. Participants then answered questions about (a) the style of political discussions with this person (an author's questionnairemethod), (b) the extent to which these discussions satisfy psychological needs (Legate, Ryan, Weinstein, 2012), (c) relationships with this family member (items from the Russian version of the FACES-IV questionnaire; Zelenskaya, 2016).
Results. Ideological polarization reduces the likelihood of compromise and calm communication between family members but increases the likelihood of dominance and tense communication between them. Seeking compromise and calm communication, in turn, form an autonomy-supportive psychological climate that promotes the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. Meanwhile, dominance and tense communication contribute to the formation of a controlling psychological climate that frustrates these needs. The autonomy-supportive climate, in turn, improves, while the controlling climate worsens relationships between family members.
Conclusions. Ideological polarization can worsen relationships between close people. This occurs because political opponents more persistently promote their position and listen less to each other than political like-minded individuals do. This effect arises primarily when political discussions hinder participants from satisfying basic psychological needs. This means that if interlocutors can restore an autonomy-supportive psychological climate through other actions, political discussions can become not an obstacle for them, but an opportunity to expand their understanding of political events and processes.