POLI 100M: Poli-cal Psychology Lecture 3: Poli-cal Par-cipa-on and Vo-ng Taylor N. Carlson Aeenstr@ucsd.edu
Announcements • Grade contracts due today! • Short Assignment 1 is due next -me – any ques-ons about this? • Remember that you must complete 1 reading commentary per week, submiQed to TritonEd. • Office Hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:30 in SSB 341, or by appointment
Last Time • Personality – Big Five personality traits: openness, conscien-ousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuro-cism/emo-onal stability – Connec-ons to poli-cal behavior, especially extraversion (engagement) and openness (engagement and a^tudes) • Gene-cs – Some poli-cal a^tudes and behaviors are heritable! – Nature AND Nurture • Psychophysiology – Mind-body connec-on; not so missing link between gene-cs and poli-cal behavior – Can explain certain poli-cal a^tudes (ideology, immigra-on) and engagement in some ac-vi-es (poli-cal discussion)
What ques-ons do you have?
Today: Driving Ques-ons • What are the psychological mo-va-ons behind why people vote and par-cipate in poli-cs? • What are the psychological mo-va-ons behind how individuals choose which candidates to support?
Today: Learning Outcomes 1. Iden-fy common forms of poli-cal par-cipa-on 2. Explain the resource model of poli-cal par-cipa-on 3. Explain the psychological correlates of poli-cal par-cipa-on 4. Describe the most common ways in which individuals choose candidates to support 5. Evaluate whether these psychological factors that mo-vate vo-ng behavior are more or less influen-al than other factors, such as resources
Poli-cal Par-cipa-on
How do we par-cipate in poli-cs? • Which of these ac-vi-es do you think are the most common? • How many of these ac-vi-es have you done? • Which of these ac-vi-es do you think are the most important?
Poli-cal Par-cipa-on in the US
Source: US Elec-on Project electproject.org
Source: US Elec-on Project electproject.org
Source: US Elec-on Project electproject.org
Source: US Elec-on Project electproject.org
Source: Center for American Women and Poli-cs, Rutgers University
Why do people par-cipate in poli-cs? • Brady, Verba, & Schlozman (1995) would ask instead: Why don’t people take part in poli-cs? – Because they can’t – Because they don’t want to – Because nobody asked
Why do(n’t) people par-cipate in poli-cs? • Brady, Verba, & Schlozman (1995): Par-cipa-on for different ac-vi-es is mo-vated by different things • Vo-ng: – Driven by interest, civic skills maQer – Income and -me are less important • Dona-ng money: – Driven by income – Time and civic skills don’t maQer • Volunteering and other poli-cal ac-vi-es: – Driven by interest, civic skills maQer the most, -me also maQers – Income doesn’t maQer
A Resource Model of Poli-cal Par-cipa-on • Those who have resources par-cipate! • Ini-ally focused on resources like money – Focused on why low-SES individuals par-cipated less • Newer Version: Resources include – Time – Money – Civic skills
What’s missing?
Think back to the reasons why people don’t par-cipate… • Because they can’t • Because they don’t want to • Because nobody asked
Personality and Par-cipa-on • Contac-ng Elected Officials – More extraverted more, likely to contact – More open to experience, more likely to contact – More conscien-ous, less likely to contact – More emo-onally stable, less likely to contact
Personality and Par-cipa-on • Par-cipa-ng in Campaigns – Social Ac-vi-es • Examples: – Try to convince someone to vote for/against a candidate – Work for a candidate or party – AQend campaign mee-ngs or rallies • More extraverted, more likely to aQend rallies • More open, more likely to convince others to vote for a candidate • More open, more likely to work for a party/candidate
Personality and Par-cipa-on – Individualis-c Ac-vi-es • Examples: – Put up a yard sign/bumper s-cker/campaign buQon – Contributed to a party or candidate – Give money to a poli-cal group • More open, more likely to contribute money • More open, more likely to put up a yard sign/bumper s-cker/campaign buQon • No effects for extraversion or other Big 5 traits
Personality and Par-cipa-on • Mondak (2010) finds no rela-onship between the Big 5 traits and vo-ng • No rela-onship between Conflict Orienta-on and vo-ng • Other personality traits maQer! – Social Anxiety: those who are socially anxious are less likely to vote
Personality and Par-cipa-on: Summary • Extraversion affects the social forms of par-cipa-on, but not the individualis-c forms • Openness affects nearly all forms of par-cipa-on except vo-ng • Conscien-ousness, Agreeableness, and Emo-onal Stability/Neuro-cism have inconsistent effects on par-cipa-on • Vo-ng seems less strongly influenced by personality
Gene-cs and Par-cipa-on • Fowler & Dawes (2008) show that there is a gene-c component to vo-ng • Loewen & Dawes (2012) show that considering vo-ng a duty is heritable, which could be the mechanism that explains the heritability of vo-ng • Remember that it’s Genes AND Environment, though!
Stress and Par-cipa-on • Cor-sol is released in response to stress • Cor-sol levels are higher on elec-on days than on non- elec-on days (Waismel-Manor et al. 2011) • Cor-sol levels in supporters of losing candidates are elevated compared to cor-sol levels of supporters of winning candidates (Stanton et al. 2010) • Those with higher baseline cor-sol levels are less likely to vote (French et al. 2014)
Stress and Par-cipa-on • Hassell & SeQle (2017) find that when triggered to consider life stressors unrelated to poli-cs, individuals without a history of past par-cipa-on are less likely to vote.
Emo-ons and Par-cipa-on • Recall that poli-cs is emo-onal! • Anger is poli-cally mobilizing – Weber (2013) finds that poli-cal messages that evoke anger increase inten-ons to par-cipate • Fear leads to greater aQen-on to poli-cal informa-on (Brader 2005) • Enthusiasm leads to a larger reliance on habit (Brader 2005)
Psychology and Poli-cal Par-cipa-on: Summary • Poli-cal par-cipa-on is more than just resources! • Individual differences impact poli-cal par-cipa-on – Personality: mostly extraversion and openness – Gene-c predisposi-ons toward vo-ng and correlates of vo-ng – Stress depresses turnout – Some emo-ons (anger, fear) are mobilizing, while others are not (sadness, some-mes enthusiasm)
5 minute break
Vote Choice
Choosing a Candidate • Why do individuals choose to vote for certain candidates? • What are the psychological explana-ons for how individuals choose which candidate to support?
Classic Explana-ons of Vote Choice • Retrospec-ve Vo-ng: vote for incumbents who have performed well in the past term in office – Are you beQer off now than you were 4 years ago? • Prospec-ve Vo-ng: vote for candidates who you think will best represent your interests in the future – Example: Single issues—vote for the candidate whose posi-on is closest to yours on an issue you care about • Informa-on Shortcuts (Heuris-cs): – Opinion Leaders—other people give you vo-ng advice – Candidate Traits—gender, race, personality, trustworthiness – Party Iden-fica-on—the ul-mate cue of policy posi-ons
Influence of Party ID • Party Iden-fica-on is the best single predictor of vote choice in federal elec-ons • From 1952-2016, about ¾ of presiden-al voters were self-iden-fied par-sans suppor-ng their party’s candidates
What is Party Iden-fica-on? • An informa-on shortcut – Reflects someone’s level of policy agreement with the two par-es – “Running tally” of performance evalua-ons of the par-es in office • A strong psychological aQachment • A social iden-ty
Party Iden-fica-on as a Social Iden-ty • Social iden-fica-on involves comparing a judgment about yourself with your percep-on of a social group • What kinds of social groups come to mind as I think about Democrats? Republicans? Independents? • What social groups do I iden-fy with?
Party Iden-fica-on as a Social Iden-ty Group Group Descrip,ons of Descrip,ons of Republicans Democrats Republican Big Business Minori-es Respondents Forward thinking Able leadership Democrat Big Business Minori-es Respondents Forward thinking Able leadership
Why is party ID so influen-al? • Powerful informa-on shortcut (more on this next -me) • Operates as a “perceptual screen” – Ignore or reinterpret informa-on that goes against their party (more on this next -me) – Mo-vated reasoning (more on this next -me) • Individuals are psychologically mo-vated to be consistent – Stability of party iden-fica-on; desire to vote along party lines • Social pressure stemming from others in your social network (more on this later)
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