Cross-Pressures, Sociopolitical

THERE ARE MANY factors that determine political attitudes. Individuals are highly influenced by the contemporary political climate, and by their specific position as political actors. To be political necessitates social interaction; therefore individual factors influence political attitudes, such as race and gender. The role that religious identification plays in recent American politics, and how the growth of income inequality has affected public opinion and voting behavior provide a sociopolitical viewpoint. However, political [Page 155]opinions and behavior are not simply governed by one characteristic. Although race is very important in the study of public opinion, individuals do not define themselves only along racial lines. The same is true for gender or religion.

Cross-pressures are usually studied with respect to party identification. Partisanship is a political attitude, and serves as a good example of how the relationships between demographic characteristics affect individual political opinions. An individual is not simply a member of one group, but can base their social identity on several different characteristics. If an individual is African American, he or she is likely to be a Democrat. Likewise, if an individual is an Evangelical, who attends services at least once a week, that person is probably a Republican. However, it would be difficult to foretell an African-American, church-going Evangelical's political position.

Political attitudes have two general characteristics. They have a direction that defines which side an individual falls on, such as Democrat or Republican, or pro-abortion or anti-abortion. They also have an intensity of feeling: strong or weak Democrat, favoring abortion without restrictions, or with some limitations. Each specific individual characteristic contributes in some way to the direction of attitudes. As stated, race has a strong effect on party identification.

The opposite is true for religiosity. The more frequently individuals attends religious services, the more likely they are to be Republican. These characteristics, race and religion, help define a direction. The intensity of attitudes such as partisanship is determined by two important factors: the characteristics that are most important to the identity of the individual, and the directions that these characteristics point towards. When the salient characteristics point in the same direction, there is an increase in the intensity of the attitude. Thus, an African-American atheist is likely to be a strong Democrat. When the salient characteristics point in opposite directions, there is a decrease in intensity and this phenomenon is called cross-pressure.

Cross-pressures pull an individual in different directions leading to weaker and less stable political attitudes. While an African-American atheist is probably a strong Democrat, an African American who attends church at least once a week would be hard to define politically. The key is in determining how strongly each of those characteristics relates to the identity of the individual. If the individual considers race to be the most important factor to their identity, one would likely place them in the Democratic direction, but probably not with high intensity. If religion were most important, one would predict a lower intensity Republican. If both characteristics were equally important, the individuals may be politically independent. Lower intensity is the direct result of cross-pressures, but through lower intensity attitudes, cross-pressures have additional important effects on political attitudes and behavior. Individuals with low intensity attitudes are typically found to have lower political interest, lower political knowledge, and lower internal efficacy, meaning the individual feels less confident about participating in the political system.

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