Political Psychology

To punish or repair? Evolutionary Psychology and Lay Intuitions about Modern Criminal Justice

by Michael Bang Petersen

Co-authored with Aaron Sell, John Tooby & Leda Cosmides, forthcoming in Evolution & Human Behavior

We propose that intuitions about modern mass-level criminal justice emerge from evolved mechanisms designed to operate... more We propose that intuitions about modern mass-level criminal justice emerge from evolved mechanisms designed to operate in ancestral small-scale societies. By hypothesis, individuals confronted with a crime compute two distinct psychological magnitudes: one that reflects the crime's seriousness and another that reflects the criminal's long-term value as an associate. These magnitudes are computed based on different sets of cues and are fed into motivational mechanisms regulating different aspects of sanctioning. The seriousness variable regulates how much to react (e.g., how severely we want to punish); the variable indexing the criminal's association value regulates the more fundamental decision of how to react (i.e., whether we want to punish or repair). Using experimental designs embedded in surveys, we validate this theory across several types of crime and two countries. The evidence augments past research and suggests that the human mind contains dedicated psychological mechanisms for restoring social relationships following acts of exploitation.

Why Do Citizens Discount the Future? Public Opinion and the Timing of Policy Consequences

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Alan M. Jacobs
British Journal of Political Science, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007123412000117, Published online by Cambridge University Press 10 May 2012.

It is widely assumed that citizens are myopic, weighing policies’ short-term consequences more heavily than long-term... more It is widely assumed that citizens are myopic, weighing policies’ short-term consequences more heavily than long-term outcomes. Yet no study of public opinion has directly examined whether or why the timing of future policy consequences shapes citizens’ policy attitudes. This article reports the results of an experiment designed to test for the presence and mechanisms of time-discounting in the mass public. The analysis yields evidence of significant discounting of delayed policy benefits and indicates that citizens’ policy bias towards the present derives in large part from uncertainty about the long term: uncertainty about both long-run processes of policy causation and long-term political commitments. There is, in contrast, little evidence that positive time-preferences (impatience) or consumption-smoothing are significant sources of myopic policy attitudes.

Political Uncertainty and Policy Trade-offs: An Experimental Investigation

by J. Scott Matthews

Co-authored with Alan M. Jacobs
Paper presented at the April 2012 EGAP Conference, Vancouver, BC, April 27-28, 2012.

Pluralistic Conditioning: Effective democracy and social tolerance

by Kris Dunn

Co-authored with Shane Singh.  Forthcoming in Democratization.

One of the main principals upon which liberal democratic and non-democratic regimes differ is the incorporation of... more One of the main principals upon which liberal democratic and non-democratic regimes differ is the incorporation of diverse viewpoints into public life.  Exposure to such variety highlights any existing heterogeneity in society, and, for most individuals, exposure to this heterogeneity promotes tolerance of difference (pluralistic conditioning).  However, those who are exposed to diversity under aversive conditions are instead pushed toward intolerance of difference (aversive pluralistic conditioning).  We thus predict that increased democracy will increase tolerance of outgroups in general while decreasing tolerance among authoritarians, who are defined by their inherent distaste of diversity, relative to the general population.  We test these predictions with multilevel models and survey data across several countries and find strong support for our expectations: under non-aversive conditions, exposure to the diversity inherent to effective democracy corresponds with higher levels of tolerance of outgroups; exposure under aversive conditions corresponds with relatively lower levels of tolerance toward outgroups.

Domination et impérialisme en psychologie

by Guy Tiberghien

When Partisans are Attacked: Motivated Reasoning and the New Party System

by J. Scott Matthews

Presented at the Parties and Elections Workshop (St. John's), 2010
Accepted as part of an edited volume at UBC Press.

Party Identification, Leader Effects and Vote Choice in Italy, 1990-2008

by Diego Garzia

Published in 'World Political Science Review', Volume 8, Issue 1, 2012
(co-authored with Federico Viotti)

Previous studies have portrayed the personalization of politics as a consequence of the changes in the electoral... more Previous studies have portrayed the personalization of politics as a consequence of the changes in the electoral market and the resulting transformations at the party level. However, empirical research has not reached a consensus on the extent to which this process has actually exerted its impact on citizens’ voting calculus. Partisan identifications appear still central in voters’ behavior, whereas party leader evaluations seem to play only a marginal role. This paper tries to examine the electoral consequences of the personalization of politics employing an alternative perspective. In particular, we concentrate on the role played by leader evaluations in shaping voters’ feelings of identification with parties. Our case study focuses on the Italian case, a prototype of personalized parliamentary democracy. In the empirical section, we examine the ways in which leaders have influenced Italian voters’ behavior in the last two decades. The results show that the electoral effect of party leaders (once the mediating effect of party identification is taken into account) has steadily increased during the time frame under analysis.

Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism

by Chris Crandall

Co authored with
Scott Eidelman, Jeffrey Goodman and John Blanchar

The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. In Study 1, alcohol... more The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. In Study 1, alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased, so did political conservatism (controlling for sex, education, and political identification). In Study 2, participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts. In Study 3, time pressure increased participants’ endorsement of conservative terms. In Study 4, participants considering political terms in a cursory manner endorsed conservative terms more than those asked to cogitate; an indicator of effortful thought (recognition memory) partially mediated the relationship between processing effort and conservatism. Together these data suggest that political conservatism may be a process consequence of low-effort thought; when effortful, deliberate thought is disengaged, endorsement of conservative ideology increases.

Data, Methods, and Theoretical Implications

by Rebecca J. Hannagan

Co-authored with Monica Schneider and Jill Greenlee, published in PS: Political Science and Politics, 2012 as part of a symposium on NSF Conference "New Research on Gender and Political Psychology."

The Political Left Rolls with the Good and the Political Right Confronts the Bad: Connecting Physiology and Cognition to Preferences

by Michael Gruszczynski

Coauthored with Michael D. Dodd, Amanda Balzer, Carly M. Jacobs, Kevin B. Smith, and John R. Hibbing. Published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 2012.

The Physiology of Political Participation

by Michael Gruszczynski

Coauthored with Amanda Balzer, Carly M. Jacobs, Kevin B. Smith, and John R. Hibbing. Forthcoming in Political Behavior, 2012.

Lega Nord e Fascismo. Brevi considerazioni sul carattere fascista della Lega.

by Pietro Piro

Scritto in occasione della presentazione del volume di F. Bonasera-D. Romano, L’inganno Padano. La vera storia della Lega Nord, La Zisa, Palermo 2010, p.176, ISBN 978-88-95709-77-2, tenutasi a Termini Imerese giorno 15/12/2011.

Il partito politico italiano Lega Nord si caratterizza per due tendenze fondamentali: il desiderio di potere reale e... more Il partito politico italiano Lega Nord si caratterizza per due tendenze fondamentali: il desiderio di potere reale e la fabbricazione di miti. La base emozionale dei suoi dirigenti si può collocare nella cornice di quello che W. Reich ha individuato come carattere fascista. Tuttavia, la società dello spettacolo, diluisce i tratti aggressivi e violenti di questo partito, in una prassi politica di occupazione delle istituzioni, che contribuisce da protagonista, alla ripresa di un più generale autoritarismo statale e economico.

El partido político italiano Lega Nord se caracteriza por dos tendencias fundamentales: el deseo de poder real y la elaboración de los mitos. La base emocional de sus líderes se puede colocar en el marco de lo que W. Reich identificó como carácter fascista. Sin embargo, la sociedad del espectáculo, diluye los rasgos agresivos y violentos de este partido, en una política de ocupación de las instituciones, en lo que contribuye como protagonista, a la reanudación de un más general autoritarismo estatal y económico.

Voice and Trust in Parliamentary Representation

by Kris Dunn

Forthcoming in Electoral Studies.

In both social and political matters, individuals trust those they believe will treat them fairly. Individuals in... more In both social and political matters, individuals trust those they believe will treat them fairly. Individuals in democracies have little objection to abiding by policies instituted by parties they did not vote for because the system by which the parliament is formed is considered fair. However, even among democracies, some electoral systems are fairer than others. It stands to reason that trust in parliament is affected by the perceived fairness of the electoral system. This research demonstrates that actual or perceived provision of voice in parliamentary representation does increase individual trust in parliament. Systems designed with the intent to provide fair representation and those that provide the illusion of fair representation produce higher levels of trust in parliament.

Do I have more free will than you do?

by Brian Earp

Earp, B. D. (2011). Do I have more free will than you do? An unexpected asymmetry in intuitions about personal freedom. New School Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 9, No. 21, 34-40.

The present research explores the relationship between moral evaluations and intuitions about the causes of human... more The present research explores the relationship between moral evaluations and intuitions about the causes of human behavior, in particular freedom of the will. Two studies test for a self-serving bias in intuitions about free will. Study 1 explores whether individuals may seek to exculpate themselves from wrongdoing by denying free will, while justifying blame of others by endorsing free will. Study 2 explores whether individuals may justify personal failures by denying free will, while taking credit for personal successes by endorsing free will. In neither study do the data show the predicted differences between conditions. However, an unexpected finding is reported. By pooling the data from both experiments and collapsing across conditions, it is shown that participants give greater endorsement of free will whenever actions are described from a first-person, instead of third-person, perspective—a tentative “I have more free will than you do” effect. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, as are avenues for further research on this topic.

Climate change and moral judgment

by Ezra Markowitz

Markowitz, EM & Shariff AF (2012). Climate change and moral judgment. Nature Climate Change.

Transgression et société. Le bon usage de l'anomique.

by Thomas Seguin

Article intégral disponible en ligne,

http://lodel.irevues.inist.fr/cahierspsychologiepolitique/index.php?id=1985

Cahiers de Psychologie politique, n°20, Dossier les Nouvelles idéologies.
Coordonné par Alexandre Dorna, Université de Caen.

Résumé

Nous proposons une réflexion sur la place et le rôle de la transgression à partir d’auteurs diverses... more Résumé

Nous proposons une réflexion sur la place et le rôle de la transgression à partir d’auteurs diverses comme Maffesoli, Balandier, Pessin, Durand, Morin mais aussi Lacan, Bataille ou Baudrillard. Notre thèse repose sur l’affirmation d’une utilité sociale de la transgression en tant qu’elle est révélatrice des limites sociales, en tant qu’elle porte en elle, à terme, une certaine forme de progrès culturel.
De la transgression à la violence, nous nous interrogerons politiquement sur les mécanismes qui permettent d’« homéopathiser » la violence, en lui donnant des formes d’expression ou un espace d’intégration au sein du système social ou politique, sous peine de voir les forces anomiques instrumentalisées par des mouvements fascistes. Il s’agit de comprendre comment penser un système politique assez ouvert pour inclure la transgression dans une structuration complexe entre ordre, désordre et organisation.

Abstract

We propose a reflection on the place and the role of transgression starting from various authors such as Maffesoli, Balandier, Pessin, Durand, Morin but also Lacan, Bataille and Baudrillard. Our point is to affirm the social usefulness of transgression which reveals in itself the social boundaries, in so far as it contains, at last, a certain form of social progress.
From transgression to violence, we investigate the political and psychological mechanisms reducing social violence and providing transgression a certain path for expression or an integrative space within the social and political system. Otherwise, transgressive forces can be manipulated by fascist movements. In this article, we try to understand how we might think an open political system, as open as to include transgression in a complex structuring between order, disorder and organization.

Leader, identità di partito e voto in Italia, 1990-2008

by Diego Garzia

Published in 'Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica', Volume 41, Issue 3, 2011
(co-authored with Federico Viotti)

La personalizzazione è uno degli aspetti segnalati dalla letteratura come conseguenza dell’evoluzione del mercato... more La personalizzazione è uno degli aspetti segnalati dalla letteratura come conseguenza dell’evoluzione del mercato elettorale e conseguente trasformazione dei partiti politici. Tuttavia poche sono le evidenze empiriche che permettono di dimostrare in modo univoco una tendenza di questo tipo nei comportamenti di voto degli elettori. La determinante principale delle scelte elettorali risulta essere sempre l’identificazione partitica, mentre la valutazione del leader sembra rivestire solo un ruolo marginale. Questo lavoro cerca di esaminare le conseguenze della personalizzazione della politica utilizzando un approccio, alternativo a quelli tradizionali, che considera l’identificazione come conseguenza stessa della valutazione dei leader. Il caso italiano viene preso in esame come prototipo di democrazia parlamentare personalizzata. Riteniamo, infatti, che nel passaggio dalla Prima alla Seconda Repubblica si siano verificate contemporaneamente le tre condizioni individuate da McAllister (2007) come fattori principali della personalizzazione. Partendo da questa premessa abbiamo analizzato in che modo la figura del leader influenzi i comportamenti di voto degli elettori italiani. Questa analisi mostra come l’impatto del leader sul voto sia aumentato dal 1994 al 2008 e che il suo effetto si evidenzia soprattutto come componente dell’identificazione partitica.

Le ragioni del ‘voto disonesto’ nelle elezioni parlamentari italiane del 2006

by Diego Garzia

Published in 'Quaderni di Scienza Politica', Volume 18, Issue 2, 2011

This paper investigates the individual-level determinants of the dishonest vote – that is, a vote cast in favour of a... more This paper investigates the individual-level determinants of the dishonest vote – that is, a vote cast in favour of a candidate perceived as dishonest by the voter himself – in the Italian parliamentary election of 2006. We show the preeminent role played by candidates’ personality assessments as compared to voters’ pre-existing orientations. The key determinant of the dishonest vote lies in fact in the perception of every candidate as dishonest and, more generally, in the belief that politicians are all the same. Also, we demonstrate that the probabilities of casting a dishonest vote are higher among voters characterized by a lack of interest in politics and a comparatively lower degree of civicness.

Personality and Political Participation: The Mediation Hypothesis

by Aina Gallego

Published in Political Behavior

Recent analyses have demonstrated that personality affects political behavior. According to the mediation hypothesis,... more Recent analyses have demonstrated that personality affects political behavior. According to the mediation hypothesis, the effect of personality on political participation is mediated by classical predictors, such as political interest, internal efficacy, political discussion, or the sense that voting is a civic duty. This paper outlines various paths that link personality traits to two participatory activities: voter turnout in European Parliament elections and participation in protest actions. The hypotheses are tested with data from a large, nationally representative, face-to-face survey of the Spanish population conducted before and after the 2009 European Parliament elections using log-linear path models that are well suited to study indirect relationships. The results clearly confirm that the effects of personality traits on voter turnout and protest participation are sizeable but indirect. They are mediated by attitudinal predictors.

Social Dominance Orientation: Revisiting the structure and function of a variable predicting social and political attitudes

by Nour Kteily

Social dominance orientation (SDO) is one of the most powerful predictors of intergroup attitudes and behavior.... more Social dominance orientation (SDO) is one of the most powerful predictors of intergroup attitudes and behavior. Although SDO works well as a unitary construct, some analyses suggest it might consist of two complementary dimensions—SDO-Dominance (SDO-D), or the preference for some groups to dominate others, and SDO-Egalitarianism (SDO-E), a preference for nonegalitarian intergroup relations. Using seven samples from the United States and Israel, the authors confirm factor-analytic evidence and show predictive validity for both dimensions. In the United States, SDO-D was theorized and found to be more related to old-fashioned racism, zero-sum competition, and aggressive intergroup phenomena than SDO-E; SDO-E better predicted more subtle legitimizing ideologies, conservatism, and opposition to redistributive social policies. In a contentious hierarchical intergroup context (the Israeli–Palestinian context), SDO-D better predicted both conservatism and aggressive intergroup attitudes. Fundamentally, these analyses begin to establish the existence of complementary psychological orientations underlying the preference for group-based dominance and inequality.