Politics and Religion
Implicit Puritanism in American Moral Cognition
Eric Luis Uhlmann, Andrew Poehlman, David Tannenbaum & John Bargh
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Three studies provide evidence that the judgments and behaviors of contemporary Americans are implicitly influenced by traditional Puritan-Protestant values regarding work and sex. American participants were less likely to display traditional values regarding sexuality when implicitly primed to deliberate, as opposed to intuition and neutral primes. British participants made judgments reflecting comparatively liberal sexual values regardless of prime condition (Study 1). Implicitly priming words related to divine salvation led Americans, but not Canadians, to work harder on an assigned task (Study 2). Moreover, work and sex values appear linked in an overarching American ethos. Asian-Americans responded to an implicit work prime by rejecting revealing clothing and sexually charged dancing, but only when their American cultural identity was first made salient (Study 3). These effects were observed not only among devout American Protestants, but also non-Protestant and less religious Americans.
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Aaron Kay, Steven Shepherd, Craig Blatz, Sook Ning Chua & Adam Galinsky
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, November 2010, Pages 725-739
Abstract:
It has been recently proposed that people can flexibly rely on sources of control that are both internal and external to the self to satisfy the need to believe that their world is under control (i.e., that events do not unfold randomly or haphazardly). Consistent with this, past research demonstrates that, when personal control is threatened, people defend external systems of control, such as God and government. This theoretical perspective also suggests that belief in God and support for governmental systems, although seemingly disparate, will exhibit a hydraulic relationship with one another. Using both experimental and longitudinal designs in Eastern and Western cultures, the authors demonstrate that experimental manipulations or naturally occurring events (e.g., electoral instability) that lower faith in one of these external systems (e.g., the government) lead to subsequent increases in faith in the other (e.g., God). In addition, mediation and moderation analyses suggest that specific concerns with order and structure underlie these hydraulic effects. Implications for the psychological, sociocultural, and sociopolitical underpinnings of religious faith, as well as system justification theory, are discussed.
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Primary Elections and Partisan Polarization in the U.S. Congress
Shigeo Hirano, James Snyder, Stephen Ansolabehere & John Mark Hansen
Quarterly Journal of Political Science, August 2010, Pages 169-191
Abstract:
Many observers and scholars argue that primary elections contribute to ideological polarization in U.S. politics. We test this claim using congressional elections and roll call voting behavior. Many of our findings are null. We find little evidence that the introduction of primary elections, the level of primary election turnout, or the threat of primary competition are associated with partisan polarization in congressional roll call voting. We also find little evidence that extreme roll call voting records are positively associated with primary election outcomes. A positive finding is that general election competition exerts pressure toward convergence as extreme roll call voting is negatively correlated with general election outcomes.
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Occupational Status and the Experience of Anger
Jessica Collett & Omar Lizardo
Social Forces, July 2010, Pages 2079-2104
Abstract:
Current theories in the sociology of emotions posit contradictory expectations regarding the relationship between status and the relative experience of anger, with some predicting a negative relationship and others proposing a positive one. We test the compatibility of these opposing hypotheses by examining the relationship between anger and a key dimension of socioeconomic status - the occupational status score of an individual's occupation - for a representative sample of Americans. We connect different strands of theory and research in the social psychology of emotions to posit a non-linear relationship between occupational status and the experience of anger. Analyses of data from the 1996 General Social Survey's emotions module (N = 1460) are consistent with this integrative account. Individuals located at the two opposite ends of the status and prestige hierarchy are more likely to experience anger than those of middle status. We use insight from Blau's macro-structural theory to help elucidate this complex relationship.
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The Center Cannot Hold: The Struggle for Reform in the Communist Party, 1957-58
Jerry Harris
Science & Society, October 2010, Pages 461-488
Abstract:
A key point in the history of the Communist Party USA occurred in events surrounding the 16th National Convention, in 1957 and 1958. During this period a struggle over the political and organizational direction of the Party erupted, resulting in a reduced and weakened organization. Most historians give priority to the split between the right and left wings led by Johnny Gates and William Z. Foster, respectively. This overlooks the importance of the center reform forces, who constituted the majority at the 16th Convention and advocated building a mass socialist party based on an indigenous Marxist analysis. This history can be recovered, and the historiography of the CPUSA in the Cold War years enriched, through analysis of previously unpublished correspondence among national leaders of the center trend.
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Linking Party Platforms to Perceptions of Presidential Candidates' Policy Positions, 1972-2000
Elizabeth Simas & Kevin Evans
Political Research Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
If candidates sometimes seek to distinguish themselves from their parties and are ambiguous about their policy positions, to what extent do the policy platforms of parties affect individuals' perceptions of presidential candidate positions? Using data from the American National Election Study and the Comparative Manifesto Project from 1972 to 2000, we show that citizens are able to use party platforms in their assessments of presidential candidates. We also demonstrate that an individual's level of education is important in the process of linking Republican Party platforms to Republican presidential candidates. Our findings have important implications for the role of parties in presidential elections.
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Mobilizing on Campus: Conservative Movements and Today's College Students
Ziad Munson
Sociological Forum, December 2010, Pages 769-786
Abstract:
Social movement scholars have known for some time that students, and particularly college students, play an important role in modern social movements. Yet the full extent of conservative mobilizing, both today and in the past, is frequently overlooked. This article highlights the critical role college campuses have played in the rise of conservative movements in the United States over the last 40 years. In doing so, it develops a concept of transition points to help explain the mechanisms responsible for the longstanding finding that college students form an important core of many social movements. Transition points are marked by both changes in routines and changes in social network configuration. The utility of the transition point concept is explored through ethnographic and interview data from the American pro-life movement.
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Gordon Hodson, Jonathan Rush & Cara MacInnis
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, October 2010, Pages 660-682
Abstract:
Past research reveals preferences for disparaging humor directed toward disliked others. The group-dominance model of humor appreciation introduces the hypothesis that beyond initial outgroup attitudes, social dominance motives predict favorable reactions toward jokes targeting low-status outgroups through a subtle hierarchy-enhancing legitimizing myth: cavalier humor beliefs (CHB). CHB characterizes a lighthearted, less serious, uncritical, and nonchalant approach toward humor that dismisses potential harm to others. As expected, CHB incorporates both positive (affiliative) and negative (aggressive) humor functions that together mask biases, correlating positively with prejudices and prejudice-correlates (including social dominance orientation [SDO]; Study 1). Across 3 studies in Canada, SDO and CHB predicted favorable reactions toward jokes disparaging Mexicans (low-status outgroup). Neither individual difference predicted neutral (nonintergroup) joke reactions, despite the jokes being equally amusing and more inoffensive overall. In Study 2, joke content targeting Mexicans, Americans (high-status outgroup), and Canadians (high-status ingroup) was systematically controlled. Although Canadians preferred jokes labeled as anti-American overall, an underlying subtle pattern emerged at the individual-difference level: Only those higher in SDO appreciated those jokes labeled as anti-Mexican (reflecting social dominance motives). In all studies, SDO predicted favorable reactions toward low-status outgroup jokes almost entirely through heightened CHB, a subtle yet potent legitimatizing myth that "justifies" expressions of group dominance motives. In Study 3, a pretest-posttest design revealed the implications of this justification process: CHB contributes to trivializing outgroup jokes as inoffensive (harmless), subsequently contributing to postjoke prejudice. The implications for humor in intergroup contexts are considered.
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Politics at the Checkout Line: Explaining Political Consumerism in the United States
Benjamin Newman & Brandon Bartels
Political Research Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
Political consumerism is the intentional buying or abstention from buying specific products for political, social, or ethical purposes. We develop and test hypotheses regarding the individual sources of political consumerism in the United States. Analysis of survey data shows that similar to voting, education, political interest, and citizen duty promote political consumerism. Akin to protest behavior, political consumerism is enhanced by political distrust and general discontent. In contrast to turnout, political consumerism significantly decreases with age. Given the extraelectoral and self-initiated nature of political consumerism, citizen initiative and a proclivity for individualized forms of activism are significant sources of political consumerism.
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Leading the Charge: Media, Elites, and the Use of Emotion in Stimulating Rally Effects in Wartime
Sean Aday
Journal of Communication, September 2010, Pages 440-465
Abstract:
This study examines the relationship between media coverage, elite cues, and emotion in shaping public opinion about use of force. It utilizes data across three time periods: an experiment conducted in early 2005 during the Iraq War, National Election Studies data collected during the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, and NES data collected shortly after the U.S./coalition victory in the 1991 Gulf War. The study finds that contrary to conventional wisdom, media exert less influence on public opinion when they report negative or controversial news than when they reflect elite consensus and/or patriotic fervor. However, their importance is likely dependent upon the state of elite opinion, and thus media are best thought of as intervening variables between policymakers and the public.