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Social Psychological Analysis of McCain v. Obama

Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
edited October 2008 in Strut Central
Hey,b,121b,121I've read the responses talking about the McCain-Obama debate and I thought of a potential social psychological analysis of McCain's apparent contempt for Obama. I read some research by Susan T. Fiske and colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002) that discusses a two-dimensional model of stereotype content. It suggests that members of stereotyped groups can be perceived as either competent or warm based upon the target person's status and competitiveness with the perceiver. The research found that members of stigmatized groups (e.g., Blacks) that are competitive with the majority (e.g., Black professionals) are seen as competent yet lacking in warmth. This breeds contempt for such individuals, a sort of a "that Black bastard!" effect.b,121b,121Applied to the presidential campaign, Fiske and colleagues' study may explain McCain's cranky behavior around Obama. He is probably really resentful of the fact that Obama is highly competent...and Black. If Obama was not so competent, and thus rendered non-threatening, McCain may see him as higher in warmth. Typically, those seen as incompetent and non-competitive arouse sympathy as a opposed to contempt (e.g., negative stereotypes about yet pity for the elderly). McCain is probably irked by the fact that a Black man is handing his ass to him when he likely thought that the presidential race would be a cakewalk (side note: I think Hilary Clinton had similar assumptions about getting the Democratic nomination). I find the social psychology of this presidential race utterly fascinating.b,121b,121Reference:b,121b,121Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 878-902.b,121b,121Peace,b,121b,121Big Stacks from Kakalak

  Comments

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
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  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
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    h,121
    b,121Hey,
    b,121
    b,121I've read the responses talking about the McCain-Obama debate and I thought of a potential social psychological analysis of McCain's apparent contempt for Obama. I read some research by Susan T. Fiske and colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002) that discusses a two-dimensional model of stereotype content. It suggests that members of stereotyped groups can be perceived as either competent or warm based upon the target person's status and competitiveness with the perceiver. The research found that members of stigmatized groups (e.g., Blacks) that are competitive with the majority (e.g., Black professionals) are seen as competent yet lacking in warmth. This breeds contempt for such individuals, a sort of a "that Black bastard!" effect.
    b,121
    b,121Applied to the presidential campaign, Fiske and colleagues' study may explain McCain's cranky behavior around Obama. He is probably really resentful of the fact that Obama is highly competent...and Black. If Obama was not so competent, and thus rendered non-threatening, McCain may see him as higher in warmth. Typically, those seen as incompetent and non-competitive arouse sympathy as a opposed to contempt (e.g., negative stereotypes about yet pity for the elderly). McCain is probably irked by the fact that a Black man is handing his ass to him when he likely thought that the presidential race would be a cakewalk (side note: I think Hilary Clinton had similar assumptions about getting the Democratic nomination). I find the social psychology of this presidential race utterly fascinating.
    b,121
    b,121Reference:
    b,121
    b,121Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition.
    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 878-902.b,121b,121Peace,b,121b,121Big Stacks from Kakalak b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Thank you. b,121b,121 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/know.gif" alt="" 21b,121b,121Keep these analysis coming. Your earlier analysis about reverse perceptions of competence (He's a Dr, and he's Black. Be must be really good.) was great. br121b,121Another reason for McCain's anger is that he felt Obama screwed him on an ethics bill that they were working on together. It is petty and small minded of him to hold a grudge over it, alls fair in politics. But your 2 dimensional model helps explain why.
  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    interesting.b,121b,121something i noticed with the debate last night that struck me as rather odd, and i dont know if anyone else noticed it...b,121b,121 a black dude from the audience asked a question, i think his name was oliver, so mccain addresses his question, thanks him for the question or whatever, and in answering the question, refers to a person who asked a question earlier, in terms of owning a home or something. like say the earlier dude's name was "joe", to paraphrase, mccain was like "so in effect our policy will help "joe" have home ownership.", but what about oliver who was asking the question? its like he was left out of the question. that is such a bizarre thing to do, to not direct an answer to the person who posed the question (and happened to be black)b,121b,121i dont know if its just me nitpicking, but i felt odd vibes about that, and i tried to be objective about the debate.b,121b,121also, with respect to the "that one" comment, i didn't see it as racist, but degrading.b,121b,121i interpretted mccain's humor as biting his tongue
  • meistromocomeistromoco 953 Posts
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    h,121
    b,121 He is probably really resentful of the fact that Obama is highly competent...and Black.
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I don't think that is fair. Of course it could be true, but I think it is just as likely that he is resentful because he is losing (period) and his campaign is kind of unraveling. And he is losing to someone that, he may truly believe, does not have the experience. I think at this point, there is a lot McCain could be resentful about (mad about picking Palin, running a crap campaign, etc).
  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts
    /font1
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    h,121
    b,121Hey,
    b,121
    b,121I've read the responses talking about the McCain-Obama debate and I thought of a potential social psychological analysis of McCain's apparent contempt for Obama. I read some research by Susan T. Fiske and colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002) that discusses a two-dimensional model of stereotype content. It suggests that members of stereotyped groups can be perceived as either competent or warm based upon the target person's status and competitiveness with the perceiver. The research found that members of stigmatized groups (e.g., Blacks) that are competitive with the majority (e.g., Black professionals) are seen as competent yet lacking in warmth. This breeds contempt for such individuals, a sort of a "that Black bastard!" effect.
    b,121
    b,121Applied to the presidential campaign, Fiske and colleagues' study may explain McCain's cranky behavior around Obama. He is probably really resentful of the fact that Obama is highly competent...and Black. If Obama was not so competent, and thus rendered non-threatening, McCain may see him as higher in warmth. Typically, those seen as incompetent and non-competitive arouse sympathy as a opposed to contempt (e.g., negative stereotypes about yet pity for the elderly). McCain is probably irked by the fact that a Black man is handing his ass to him when he likely thought that the presidential race would be a cakewalk (side note: I think Hilary Clinton had similar assumptions about getting the Democratic nomination). I find the social psychology of this presidential race utterly fascinating.
    b,121
    b,121Reference:
    b,121
    b,121Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition.
    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 878-902.b,121b,121Peace,b,121b,121Big Stacks from Kakalak b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121very interestingb,121b,121during the debate I kept thinking about the 'social darwinian' factors in the minds of potential voters watching - i.e Obama is more physically assured, projects vitality & is taller, stronger, younger etc - the idea being that on a base instinctual level humans would select someone more vital physically to be the group leaderb,121b,121 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/107.gif" alt="" 21
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
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    h,121
    b,121
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    h,121
    b,121 He is probably really resentful of the fact that Obama is highly competent...and Black.
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1
    b,121
    b,121I don't think that is fair. Of course it could be true, but I think it is just as likely that he is resentful because he is losing (period) and his campaign is kind of unraveling. And he is losing to someone that, he may truly believe, does not have the experience. I think at this point, there is a lot McCain could be resentful about (mad about picking Palin, running a crap campaign, etc).
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I think it is highly likely. I find that attitude is predominant among many White professionals, especially older men. Black competence is still very threatening to many White people, and Black EXCELLENCE is straight scary to many more. It's not rational, but I have seen it too often to dismiss it completely (which I know you are not doing, M). Your point is well taken, but my gut says that there is a bit of all of it in McCain's brew, whether he would want it that way or not (and I personally believe that HE believes himself above that kind of prejudice).
  • SouthCrackalackSouthCrackalack 3,853 Posts
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    h,121
    b,121
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    h,121
    b,121 He is probably really resentful of the fact that Obama is highly competent...and Black.
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1
    b,121
    b,121I don't think that is fair. Of course it could be true, but I think it is just as likely that he is resentful because he is losing (period) and his campaign is kind of unraveling. And he is losing to someone that, he may truly believe, does not have the experience. I think at this point, there is a lot McCain could be resentful about (mad about picking Palin, running a crap campaign, etc).
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I don't know, I don't think it's such a far fetched of an idea to think that McCain is salty as hell because a young, intelligent, good looking and extremely popular BLACK man(who has beat the odds and hung in there this long..which I don't think was expected at all from him or the rest of the Republicans) is less than a month away from being the President of the USA. b,121b,121Maybe I have some kind of distorted view on things since I grew up and lived in the South my whole life, but I would be VERY suprised if behind closed doors McCain isn't like the rest of these arrogant rich ass old white men that feel they are superior over blacks. That's just my opinion and hopefully I am totally wrong.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    White people who entered the work force prior to about 1972, never had to compete with African Americans for jobs. At any level. If were white and wanted to dig ditches you would (in most cases) be hired before an African American. b,121b,121The only exception was the army and pullman porters. The other armed forces might have been more fair than the general work force, but less equal than the army. b,121b,121McCain only had 2 jobs in life (that I know of). The Navy, which he got through his dads influence. And Congress, which he got through his Father-inlaws money and influence. b,121b,121I don't know what it all means, but this (and 2000) are just about the only times he has been challenged for a job. He was pretty bitter in 2000 also.
  • meistromocomeistromoco 953 Posts
    I'm just saying that the fact that Obama is African American may contribute to the resentment, but without it, he has plenty to be resentful about. He's wanted this for a looong time, it is almost certainly his last shot (god I hope so), and it is all slipping away.
  • SouthCrackalackSouthCrackalack 3,853 Posts
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    h,121
    b,121it is almost certainly his last shot (god I hope so
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Surely it is. If it's not, the Republicans are crazier than I ever imagined.
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