Official Program SPSP Political Psychology Preconference 2022
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1
Official Program
SPSP Political Psychology
Preconference 2022
Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973. Guernica
Contents
2 Program Overview
3-4 Speakers Talk Titles
5-8 Data Blitz Abstracts
9-20 Poster Abstracts
Preconference organizers
Eduardo J. Rivera Pichardo (New York University)
Benjamin Ruisch (University of Kent)2
**All times EST**
9:00-9:10 — Welcoming Remarks
9:10-10:15 Symposium 1: Conspiracy Theories and Political Psychology
• 9:10-9:30 – Joanne Miller, University of Delaware, USA
• 9:30-9:50 – Steven Smallpage, Stetson University, USA
• 9:50-10:10 – Karen Douglas, University of Kent, England
10:15-10:40 Data Blitz
• Flavio Azevedo, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany
• Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, London School of Economics, England
• Claire Robertson, New York University, USA
• Carolina Rocha, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
10:40-10:50 Short Coffee Break
10:50-11:55 Symposium 2: Field Work and Real-World Interventions
• 10:50-11:10 – Laura Taylor, University College, Dublin, Ireland
• 11:10-11:30 – Rezarta Bilali, New York University, USA
• 11:30-11:50 – Ana Figueiredo, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Chile
11:55-1:10pm Virtual Poster Session and Lunch Break
1:10-1:30 Graduate Student Talk: Shahrzad Goudarzi, New York University, USA
1:30-2:35 Symposium 3: The Politics and Psychology of Neoliberalism
• 1:30-1:50 – Julia Becker, University of Osnabrueck, Germany
• 1:50-2:10 – Anjali Dutt, University of Cincinnati, USA
• 2:10-2:30 – Glenn E. Adams, University of Kansas, USA
2:35-3:05 Virtual Poster Session
3:05-3:30 Data Blitz
• Hui Bai, Stanford University, USA
• Joy Losee, University of Dayton, USA
• Salvador Vargas Salfate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
• Tyler Jimenez, University of Washington, USA
3:30-4:35 Symposium 4: Beyond Left and Right - New Conceptualizations of Ideology
• 3:30-3:50 – Hugo Marcos Marné, University of Salamanca, Spain
• 3:50-4:10 – Leor Zmigrod, University of Cambridge, England
• 4:10-4:30 – Christopher Federico, University of Minnesota, USA
4:35-4:40 Closing Remarks3
2022 Invited Speakers List
Special Theme:
Conspiracy Theories and Political Psychology
Joanne Miller, University of Delaware, USA
The political psychology of belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories
Steven Smallpage, Stetson University, USA
The emergence of political romanticism in American politics
Karen Douglas, University of Kent, England
Is the label 'conspiracy theory' a cause or a consequence of disbelief in
alternative narratives?
Special Theme:
Field Work and Real-World Interventions
Laura Taylor, University College, Dublin, Ireland
Kids in context: The developmental peacebuilding model
Rezarta Bilali, New York University, USA
Stories matter: Narrative interventions for social change in conflict contexts
Ana Figueiredo, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, Chile
Fieldwork experiences, reflections, and opportunities:
Doing research with Mapuche people in Chile4
Special Theme:
The Politics and Psychology of Neoliberalism
Julia Becker, University of Osnabrueck, Germany
Effects of neoliberalism on loneliness and mental health
Anjali Dutt, University of Cincinnati, USA
Neoliberal ideology and attitudes towards immigrants in the United States
Glenn E. Adams, University of Kansas, USA
The neoliberalism of psychology
Special Theme:
Beyond Left and Right - New Conceptualizations of Ideology
Hugo Marcos Marné, University of Salamanca, Spain
Ideational populism and electoral behavior
Leor Zmigrod, University of Cambridge, England
A psychology of ideology: Unpacking the psychological structure of
ideological thinking
Christopher Federico, University of Minnesota, USA
Making sense of the link(s) between the psychological and the political: An
extended belief-systems approach
Graduate Student Talk
Shahrzad Goudarzi, New York University, USA
Neoliberalism and the ideological construction of equity beliefs5
Data Blitz Abstracts
Data Blitz Session 1 (10:15-10:40)
Flavio Azevedo, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany
Measuring ideology: Current practices, its consequences, and recommendations.
Political ideologies are foundational to a broad range of social science fields such as
Political Science, and Social and Political Psychology. While scholars use diverse and
wide-ranging approaches to its study, all have in common the measurement of an
individual’s (latent) political ideology. We sought to investigate this practice in detail for
which we conducted an exhaustive literature review of over 400 scientific articles,
spanning from the 1930s to 2020s, across a wide range of social sciences subfields.
Furthermore, and importantly, it is a standard practice to assume ideological inventories
can be used interchangeably. This untested assumption, if shown not to hold, may pose
a threat to the comparability and generalizability of findings. Indeed, we show empirically
with a high-powered nationally representative sample that at least five established
'traditional' findings in ideological research can change as a function of the instrument
used. We then discuss its consequences and recommendations.
Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, London School of Economics, England
Markets on my Mind: Introducing a measure of neoliberal subjectivity and
examining its relationship with political appraisals, agency and action.
Psychologists are starting to examine the ideological dynamics of neoliberalism but
have yet to operationalize the shifts in self-understanding that it brings about. We
present a new measure of neoliberal subjectivity, assessing 5 dimensions of the
“Entrepreneurial Self”, as an autonomous agent engaged in self-monitoring & self-
improvement in the service of the market. Analysis of data from 2 UK samples (n = 581)
establishes convergent, divergent, & predictive validity and supports a 5-dimensional
structure consisting of self-enhancement, self-optimization, self-accountability, affect
regulation, and marketized social relations. Neoliberal subjectivity predicts greater
narcissism, Machiavellianism, and problematic social media behaviors, while being
associated with higher system justification and lower political efficacy, interest, and
action. It also interacts with societal position, enhancing the sense of shame and
lowering the class identification reported by those low in subjective socioeconomic
status. Measuring neoliberal subjectivity is feasible and opens up an exciting new area
of research on what happens when free market thinking starts to permeate all aspects of
life.6 Claire Robertson, New York University, Conspiracy theories online: The effect of moral-emotional language on voter fraud conspiracy spread The spread of conspiracy theories now takes place predominantly online “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theories, which stated that the 2020 US presidential election was fraudulent, spread widely through social media, with disastrous outcomes. Much research on conspiracy theories is limited by sampling challenges -- true conspiracy believers are often hesitant to participate in scientific research. Using a massive online repository of 7.6 million tweets from 2.6 million real conspiracy believers collected around the 2020 US presidential election, we examine the linguistic characteristics of conspiracy communication. Specifically, we examine the use of moral-emotional language from conspiracy believers and non-believers as a driver of information spread. We find preliminary results showing that conspiracy believers are more likely than non- believers to use moral-emotional language. However, in contrast to prior work we also find that moral-emotional language has a deleterious effect on the spread of conspiracy information, suggesting novelty may play a role in the effectiveness of moral language on information spread. Follow up studies are proposed to explore these effects further. Carolina Rocha, University of St. Andrews, Scotland A diachronic approach to social influence and active bystandership: solidarity amid protests in Chile Laboratory experiments examining reactions to seeing others at risk show that watching fellow witnesses intervening on the spot promotes active bystandership. Here, we aimed to investigate the mechanism by which vicarious action influence behaviour, and whether help by individuals who are not directly witnessing threats to people’s lives can mobilised later on. These questions motivated an interview study during the social uprising that started in late 2019 in Chile, where human rights violations inspired widespread solidarity. 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted between November 2019 and February 2020 with volunteers helping victims of repression, demonstrators, and individuals without involvement in such actions. A reflexive thematic analysis shows that aid delivered at the onset of political repression inspired further solidarity on following days and weeks. Solidarity acts encouraged more aid afterwards by promoting awareness about existing needs, self-efficacy, moral obligation, and prosocial norms. These findings suggests that temporality and the mediated nature of social influence should be considered when studying active bystandership.
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Data Blitz Session 2 (3:05-3:30)
Hui Bai, Stanford University, USA
Prejudice benefit conservative (not white or male) politicians
This talk shows that prejudice does not usually benefit or undermine politicians who are
from a particular demographic group, as many past studies assumed; instead, it benefits
conservative politicians and undermines liberal politicians, regardless of their
demographic background, such as their race and gender. Using data extending from
1972 to 2021, eleven studies (N=46,913) confirm this pattern across multiple domains of
prejudice (racism, sexism, and Islamophobia) in citizens’ evaluation of real and
hypothetical politicians in correlational and experimental studies, using explicit as well
as implicit measures. Additional analyses reveal that these patterns are primarily driven
by citizens’ concerns for (in)equality, and to a lesser extent, their status quo
preferences. Together, these studies highlight the often-overlooked role of politicians’
ideology, clarifying theories that explain how citizens’ prejudice is translated into their
political preferences.
Joy Losee, University of Dayton, USA
Examining gun attitudes and safety perceptions among Black people in the United
States
The issue of political polarization and gun violence often garners attention from news
media. Research consistently shows a link between political ideology and gun
ownership and attitudes (e.g., Losee et al., 2020). Conservatives (vs. liberals) are more
likely to own and have positive attitudes toward guns. However, we examined whether
political ideology predicts gun attitudes among people disproportionately experiencing
gun violence—Black people in the United States. Across 3 studies (N = 30,078) we find
that race (Black vs not) interacts with political ideology to predict gun attitudes and
safety perceptions. Among non-Black participants, more conservatism relates to more
positive gun attitudes and perceptions. Among Black participants, the relationship is
weak or nonsignificant, suggesting that political ideology is unrelated to gun attitudes
among Black people in the U.S. These results have implications for other research on
political ideology and policy attitudes. Further, this research suggests focusing on
political polarization overlooks that it occurs largely among people who are not Black
and may divert attention and resources from people most impacted by gun violence.8 Salvador Vargas Salfate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA A longitudinal test of the conservative-liberal wellbeing gap Previous research has found that conservatives score higher than liberals in different measures of psychological wellbeing. This has been explained based on personality traits or system justifying beliefs. However, most of this literature relies on cross- sectional and non-experimental research that cannot properly test the existence of a causal association. In this research, we tested this hypothesis in two studies across 20 countries. In Study 1, we used a two-wave sample of 19 countries (N = 8,740) and conducted multilevel cross-lagged panel models. In Study 2, we used a four-wave Chilean representative sample (N = 2,554) and conducted random-intercept cross- lagged panel models. Overall, we did not find evidence supporting the hypothesis that conservatism predicts wellbeing over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for literature on differences between liberals and conservatives and system justification theory. Tyler Jimenez, University of Washington, USA Right and left hands of the state: A multi-level analysis of neoliberalism & policing A half century of neoliberalism has seen social services shrink while policing expands (Wacquant, 2008). Despite these concurrent trends, research on neoliberalism’s coerciveness has focused on its promotion of self-discipline, rather than punishment and policing. Perhaps neoliberalism’s defunding of social services creates insecurity, which is then managed by militarized police. Six studies examined neoliberalism and police militarization at the macro- and micro-levels. In Study 1 (N = 49), state-level indicators of neoliberalism (e.g., income inequality) predicted police department acquisitions of militarized equipment. In Studies 2-5, data from the World Values Survey (N = 2,469), General Social Survey (N = 1,490), American National Election Studies (N = 6,024), and online samples (N = 495) revealed that neoliberal ideology predicted support for police violence and militarization. In Study 6 (N = 600), we test the causal relationship between neoliberal and policing attitudes. These studies reveal similarities between macro- and micro-level associations between neoliberalism and police militarization, advancing our understanding of neoliberalism and social control.
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Poster Presenters
Poster Session 1 (12:35-1:10pm)
Note* during lunch break (11:55-1:10pm)
Holly Engstrom - University of British Columbia
COVID-19 stimulus cheques or how conservatives learned to stop worrying and love
redistribution
The US’s economic stimulus payment program garnered bipartisan support. This is
surprising, given the typically large partisan gap in support for government aid. Two
studies examined why the stimulus payments appealed particularly to conservatives. A
third leveraged theoretical insights from the findings to increase conservatives’ support
for economic redistribution in general.
Rachele Benjamin - University of British Columbia
Who says they support democracy, and why we shouldn’t believe them
People say they are democratic, but should we take them at their word? Across three
pre-registered studies, those valuing equality declared more support, and authoritarians,
conservatives, and elitists declared less support for democracy. In practice, these
dispositions did not track whether people endorsed democratic politicians (Study 1) or
made democratic choices themselves (Study 2-3).
Daniel Relihan - University of California, Irvine
Politicization of a pathogen: A longitudinal, U.S. nationally representative study of
COVID-19 responses
Using a representative U.S. national sample (N = 6514), we show that affective,
cognitive, and reported behavioral COVID-19 responses increasingly diverged along
party lines over the first six months of the pandemic, that Republicans' responses
diverged by Trump support, there were no political differences in perceived flu risk, and
pre-pandemic politics prospectively predicted vaccine intentions.10 Shree Vallabha - Michigan State University Blame Judgements for Past Actions of Groups Why do people blame current groups for the actions of past members? In a survey and an experiment using real and hypothetical events, we find that perceiving (a) connectedness between past and present perpetrator groups, (b) unfulfilled obligations of perpetrator groups, (c) continued privilege of perpetrator groups, and (d) continued harm of victim groups explains this blame. Trevor Lies - University of Kansas Investment in Whiteness and Climate Change Skepticism This research explores three main ideas: whether ethnic group differences in change (CC) skepticism exist, the extent to which investment in White racial identity is related to CC skepticism, and an instance in which the racialization of CC skepticism is amplified. Results suggest a racialization of CC skepticism, but some patterns disappear following the inclusion of conservatism as a covariate Frank Gootjes - University of Groningen The belief that society is in decline amplifies public outrage after shocking incidents Shocking societal events can prompt outrage and action, and generalized discontent with society at large may drive citizens to engage in protesting and solidarity marches. The findings from three studies indicate that societal discontent may acts a lens as it robustly predicts public outrage about shootings, and partly predicts subsequent protest- and solidarity-related behavioural intentions. Pedro De Abreu - Duke University Political Orientation and the Derogation of Poor Children’s Intelligence and Academic Values We find that Low-SES cues (e.g., school assisted lunch) lead people to judge a child as less intelligent and interested in academics and that this is moderated by political orientation: Increased conservatism is associated with increased derogation on all measures. We find evidence for the role of SDO in mediating this effect. Implications for inequality and motivated system defense are discussed.
11 Andrew Dawson - Wilfrid Laurier University Tweets on Trial: How Do People Judge Past Social Media Offenses in the Present? As more of our lives transition to online spaces, it is increasingly common for public figures to be called to account for past offensive statements on social media. Three experiments (N = 2,282) reveal that perceivers weigh the passage of time and age of the transgressor, and that political orientation and the type of offense also shape judgement and shift subjective perceptions of time and age. Lotte Pummerer - IWM Tübingen Addressing negative consequences of conspiracy theories through reasoning While the negative societal consequences of conspiracy theories are very visible (see e.g. the Capitol attack), there is still yet little research about ways to to address them. As a glimpse of hope, we present some data showing that when participants are encouraged to think about the reasons for norms, the relation between conspiracy beliefs and norm adherence is attenuated. Jake Womick - University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Black Lives Matter Promotes Meaning in Life among White Liberals and Black Americans Two correlational studies (N’s=517, 283), showed support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) enhanced meaning in life (MIL) among liberals, and promoted MIL among Black Americans, regardless of ideology. Two experiments (N’s= 888, 305) tested whether BLM imagery enhanced purpose among liberals, and if the MIL boost resulting from BLM imagery enhanced willingness to participate in the movement. Alix Alto - CUNY Graduate Center "I put Liberal but LOL": Psychology of the US Left Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we investigated which identities and attitudes distinguish Leftists from Liberals, as well as differences in policy support and perceptions of group boundaries. We find that Leftists (vs. Liberals) reject capitalism and incremental social change and support for the hypothesis that these groups have meaningfully distinct identities and ideologies.
12 Enzo Cáceres - Universiteit van Amsterdam Re-territorialised whiteness: The relation of historical appreciation and White identity forms in current debates on decolonizing the Dutch public sphere We explore the relation of historical appreciation of colonialism and White identity forms over its still-present legacy in the public sphere. We show how power-cognizant White identity relates to historical appreciation and to alter the public sphere and how prideful and weak White identifiers are reluctant to change via historical negation. We discuss the role of whiteness in cultural change. Haiyan Wang - VU Amsterdam The Dynamic Relationships Between Feeling of Uncontrollability, Political Extremism and Conspiracy Belief During the 2020 US Presidential Election During the 2020 US presidential elections, there were many conspiracy theories asserting that the elections were rigged. Researchers have focused on how conspiracy beliefs are correlated with uncontrollability and extremism, however, few longitudinal studies demonstrated a dynamic perspective. In a longitudinal study, we sought to get a better understanding of how these relationships develop. Carolin-Theresa Ziemer - Friedrich Schiller University Jena Psychological Underpinning of Disinformation Countermeasures: Why we should pay more attention to identity Despite the growing research corpus on disinformation and how to counteract it, little is known about the psychological underpinnings of disinformation interventions. We present a framework integrating predictors of superficial and selective processing of disinformation, systematically review evidence of psychological countermeasures and deduce recommendations for effective solutions.
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Agatha Bataille - University of East Anglia (UEA)
Contextual perceptions influencing political intergroup contact intentions and their
evolution through time.
Using a two-wave study of Democrats and Republicans before and after the American
election we investigated a model in which social context variables (social norms, meta-,
and outgroup perception) interact to predict political intergroup contact seeking
behavior.
Sonja Grelle - Ruhr-University Bochum
NIMBYism ("not in my back yard") – Acceptance of Public Green Nudge
Interventions
Environmental policies are increasingly informed by behavioral insights, including green
nudges. We investigate when citizens accept green nudges and when they do not. We
assume NIMBYism ("not in my back yard") and investigate whether people are more
likely to accept nudges addressing the general public compared to nudges addressing
themselves.
Arkadiusz Wasiel - Institute of Psychology Polish Academy of Sciences
Perception of power and desired societal change
The goal of the study is to explain desired power structure of their societies based on
the way people perceive, comprehend and interpret those in power, referred to as power
construals. The study was conducted in the US, Poland, and Hong Kong. Results show
that people’s perception of those in power may have a significant role in shaping desired
future of their societies.
Jutzi Chiara - University of Salzburg
The role of Conspiracies during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Threat reactions to Covid-19 can be characterized as proximally inhibitory, while a distal
reaction may be the belief in conspiracies. Two studies show the link between Covid-19
threat, behvioural inhibition and conspiracies. Further, we find mixed evidence when
examining whether being exposed to a conspiracy helps people to cope with threat.14
Zachary Airington - Tulane University
Nature trumps nurture: An investigation into the role of genetic essentialist beliefs
in political intergroup relations
As political partisanship increases, psychological processes—such as beliefs associated
with genetic essentialism—likely play an important role. The current work finds that
liberals and conservatives who hold more genetic essentialist beliefs also espouse more
political intolerance, suggesting that biological accounts for behavior and traits may, in
part, antagonize political relations.
Continue to Next Page:
Poster Presenters for Session 215
Poster Presenters
Poster Session 2 (2:35-3:05)
Alivia Zubrod - University of Montana
Does the Complexity of Language Influence Trial Outcomes?
I analyzed the complexity of language in the opening and closing statements of famous
U.S. trials, using the Automated Integrative Complexity scoring system. I found that
higher levels of integrative complexity led to a significant increase in winning outcomes
for prosecuting attorneys. Furthermore, this effect was driven by elaborative forms of
complexity.
Irein Thomas - University of British Columbia
Know you, no me: People want to know others' political leanings but do not share
their own with others
People use political stereotypes to judge strangers, but they might not see their own
political identity as capturing their whole character. The current study tested this
asymmetry by examining how individuals want to know political vs. apolitical identity
markers about others they are meeting for the first time compared to how much they
want to reveal those same characteristics about themselves.
Rachel Hartman - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Perceiving Authenticity in Political Opponents Reduces Negative Affect and Anti-
Democratic Attitudes
In an intervention to increase perceived outgroup authenticity participants viewed data
about how people describe the origins of their ideology and wrote about the values
behind their opponents’ views. The intervention reduced negative affect and anti-
democratic attitudes compared to a control. Highlighting opponents’ values, even if they
are different from one’s own, may help bridge divides.16 Rebecca Dyer - Hamilton College Driving Us Apart or Bringing Us Together? Politics, Moral Values, and Outgroup Acceptance We examined the effect of attention to morality on attitudes towards political outgroups. Participants read about a college applicant, implied to share/not share the participants’ own political views. Being assigned to write about one’s moral values significantly reduced preferential treatment for political ingroups; in the control condition, participants judged outgroup members more harshly. Ashley Walters - University of Minnesota Separate Spheres Ideology in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election: A 3-Wave Panel Study The present study analyzes the role of Separate Spheres Ideology (SSI), relative to partisanship and ideology, on candidate evaluations and vote choice in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Data are from the 2020 CSPP Presidential Election panel study. Danica Willbanks - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Political discussions in online, local communities contain more positive moral language than national communities Americans’ media diets increasingly focus on national rather than local issues. We propose this contribute to partisan animosity. In support of this, we found that comments about COVID-19 in city-based online communities (n = 148,369) contained significantly more positive moral language than national communities (n = 275,399), despite all communities moralizing COVID-19 equally.
17 Waleed Jami - University of Nevada Democratic Backsliding: Dissecting the interplay between populism and authoritarianism and their effect on democracy, plurality, and the well-being of societies. Democracies are weakening worldwide due to recent “authoritarian-populist" movements. Four survey and archival studies revealed that the interaction of populism and authoritarianism, but not necessarily their main effects, predicted higher skepticism toward electoral integrity, anti-establishment identification, opposition to modernism, greater negative affect and lower generosity. Raimundo Salas Schweikart - Georgetown University Celebrating Group Differences vs. Similarities: The Relationship on Sekking Contact with Similar vs. Different Others How to manage Increased diversity in societies has become a major controversy in the 21st century. We test whether celebrating differences or commonalities has more influence on contact preferences. Our findings replicated similarity-attraction for most groups, including when differences were celebrated. We raise questions about celebrating intergroup differences in contemporary societies. William Jettinghoff - University of British Columbia The Strange Alchemy of Motivated Credulity: People elevate non-evidence to evidence--when it supports their views In two experiments (N=824), participants were self-servingly flexible in judging what does and does not count as factual “evidence that a logical truth-seeker would consider”. They not only selectively discounted the (real) evidentiary value of unfavorable scientific studies, but also selectively ascribed (false) evidentiary value to favorable opinion polls, anecdotes, and pastors’ preferences.
18 Xuan Zhao - Stanford University Standing in Solidarity? Predicting People’s Perceptions of Organizational Statements Following George Floyd’s Death Following George Floyd’s death, many organizations issued statements in support of racial justice in the U.S. Two studies examine how organizations responded and, in turn, how people perceived those statements and organizations. We found that people’s own awareness of racism predicts their expectations for organizations to issue statements and seeing such statements as genuinely motivated. Shiri Spitz - University of California, Irvine Conspiracy Mentality and Intellectual Humility as Predictors of Belief in Partisan News We examined conspiracy mentality and intellectual humility as predictors of belief in partisan misinformation shortly before the 2020 election. Conspiracy mentality predicted belief in conservative-friendly (but not liberal-friendly) news, and less trust in medical authorities. Intellectual humility positively predicted trust in medical authorities above and beyond partisanship. Hannah Benner Waldfogel - Northwestern University Nudging Attention to Inequality Despite its pervasiveness, people’s tendency to notice inequality diverges meaningfully, often along ideological lines. Relative to anti-egalitarians, social egalitarians are more attentive to instances of inequality that harm traditionally disadvantaged groups in society. The present work examines two strategies aimed at nudging anti-egalitarians to notice these instances of inequality.
19 Fahima Farkhari - University of Münster Feeling threatened by immigrants and Muslims: The predictive role of political ideology, religiosity and perceived societal marginalization Based on data from four European countries (Germany, France, Poland, and Sweden; N = 5,011), the present research examines the role of political ideology, religiosity, and perceived societal marginalization in predicting threat perceptions towards immigrants and Muslims. First results on individual- and country-level predictors will be presented and discussed. Joseph Wagoner - University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Ideological Orientations, the BIAS Map, and Opposition to Social Programs Two studies integrated the dual-process model of prejudice with the stereotype content model to examine people’s attitudes towards social programs that benefit stigmatized groups (e.g., homeless individuals, drug users). Results provided partial support of both models of prejudice and showed their application to explaining the hostility against social programs that benefit stigmatized groups. Michael Lundie - The University of Texas at Dallas The metacognitive underpinnings of confirmation bias and its political consequences This study illuminates the role of metacognitive sensitivity as the psychological basis for confirmation bias along with the political extremism it tends to foster. Individual differences in metacognitive sensitivity may be incorporated into cognitive models predicting a range of political beliefs and attitudes, including vulnerability to misinformation campaigns in online media. Clint McKenna - University of Michigan The Decision Process of Motivated Numeracy We investigate a motivated numeracy account of political decision making. Across 3 studies about gun control, we find that participants were generally more accurate when data were consistent with their prior attitudes about gun control, but that this effect did not vary at different levels of numeracy. Cognitive effort and decision rationale did not vary as a function of prior beliefs.
20 Starlett Hartley - The New School for Social Research The Role of meta-dehumanization in explaining sacred conflict Four studies (N=1,435) suggest that the inflammatory effect of sacralization on conflict could be in part explained by meta-dehumanization leading to greater reciprocal dehumanization thus leading to great conflict. Collectively, these studies illustrate the role of meta-perceptions in exacerbating sacred conflict and suggest we might be able to mollify these conflicts through meta-perceptions Jesse Reid - Ryerson University Make The Environment Great Again: Extending Past-Focused Comparisons for Conservatives Past research suggests conservatives may be more swayed by pro-environmental messages referencing a return to the past, rather than an improved future. This study suggests that past-focused comparisons may be more persuasive for those high in RWA, but not high in SDO. Further, referencing both the past and the future in a single message may improve environmental outcomes for both low and high RWA Kevin Carriere - Washington & Jefferson College You're not like the rest of "them": Disproving meta-perceptions decreases dehumanization We expose participants to a political opponent who either confirms or disconfirms the participant’s meta-perception about the opposing party and ask them to write a message. Findings show that disconfirming one’s meta-perceptions reduces dehumanization of one’s partner but does not impact willingness to engage in the future and is not moderated by partner’s messages delivery medium.
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