The Psychological Sources of Partisan-leaning Independence

Abstract

In the traditional 7-point scale of partisanship, individuals classified as partisan leaners present a unique anomaly. These individuals self-classify themselves as politically independent, yet admit to preferring one political party over the other when probed. Previous research has shown that these partisan leaners are not demonstrably different from avowed partisans in either the attitudinal or behavioral support for their preferred party. Why these individuals should be partisan in attitudes and behaviors yet still consider themselves independents has not been adequately examined and raises important questions about our current understanding of partisanship. Using a unique psychological survey of voting-age adults, I find that leaners are different from true partisans in four areas: relatively less emphasis on affect and more emphasis on cognition in partisan attitudes; less partisan social identity, but heightened independent social identity; different paterns of parental socialization; and more negative attitudes toward parties in general.