On a slippery slope to intolerance

Individual difference in slippery slope beliefs predict outgroup negativity

Bibliographic Data

ID11065423
AuthorsLaura Adelman (0000-0002-8936-9036, Utrecht University, corresponding author), Levi Adelman, M Verkuyten (0000-0003-0137-1527, Utrecht University), Diana Cárdenas (0000-0002-2714-5889, Australian National University), Kumar Yogeeswaran (0000-0002-1978-5077, University of Canterbury)
Year2021
Volume94
Pages104141
Publication date2021-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Research in Personality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-6566 • E-ISSN: 1095-7251
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104141
OpenAlexW3189188958
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited50

Slippery slope beliefs capture the idea that a non-problematic action will lead to unpreventable and harmful outcomes. While this idea has been examined in legal and philosophical literatures, there has been no psychological research into the individual propensity to hold slippery slope beliefs. Across five studies and six samples (combined N = 5,974), we developed and tested an individual difference measure of slippery slope beliefs, finding that it predicted intolerance of outgroup freedoms above and beyond key demographic and psychological predictors (Studies 1–2 and 5). We also found that slippery slope beliefs predict intolerance of debated behaviors in two countries (Study 3), and that it predicted agreement with real-world slippery slope examples across the political spectrum (Studies 4–5)

Epistemology · Outgroup · Slippery slope · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · War, Ethics, and Justification