Felt respect in political discussions with contrary-minded others

Abstract

What makes people feel respected or disrespected in political discussions with contrary-minded others? In two survey studies, participants recalled a situation in which they had engaged in a discussion about a political topic. In Study 1 ( n = 126), we used qualitative methods to document a wide array of behaviors and expressions that made people feel (dis)respected in such discussions, and derived a list of nine motives that may have underlain their significance for (dis)respect judgments. Study 2 ( n = 523) used network analysis tools to explore how the satisfaction of these candidate motives is associated with felt respect. On the whole, respect was associated with the satisfaction or frustration of motives for esteem, fairness, autonomy, relatedness, and knowledge. In addition, the pattern of associations differed for participants who reported on a discussion with a stranger versus with someone they knew well, suggesting that the meaning of respect is best understood within the respective interaction context. We discuss pathways towards theoretical accounts of respect that are both broadly applicable and situationally specific.