A group just like me: The moderating role of conservation values on social projection

We examined the moderating role of personal values on social projection. Study 1 was conducted prior to the 1999 Israeli elections among activists of the Center party, a newly established centrist party. The more importance activists attributed to conservation values (values that emphasize stability and certainty) the more they projected their political views to their party. Study 2 was conducted prior to the 2003 Israeli elections among students with varied attitudes toward the Kadima party, another newly established centrist party. Conservation values interacted with support for the Kadima party in their effect on social projection: The more importance participants attributed to conservation values, the more positive was the relationship between support for the party and social projection. In Study 3, we examined the role of conservation values in an experimental study in which participants were members of a virtual team: Raising the accessibility of conservation values resulted in higher levels of social projection. Taken together, findings indicate that emphasizing conservation values leads to greater social projection.