Notes

Outline

Affect and Politics: Definitions Mood: an unattributed state of elation or disaffection depression Affect: a general positive or negative feeling associated with an object Emotion: a more specific experience, usually involving recognition and referring to attributes pride fear Motivation: wishes, goals, desires

Theories of Affect Zajonc Primacy of affect: affective responses are immediate, and do not require intervention of cognition Facial feedback: facial musculature communicates and regulates emotion Cacioppo Partially independent evaluative systems Tied to independent psychophysiological systems Positivity offset: uninformed judgments are usually positive Negativity effect: negative information has more powerful effects on judgment than positive information Ellsworth Emotion relies on an appraisal of the object’s relevance to goals and needs

Schachter & Singer (1962): Arousal, Attribution, and Emotional Response

Affect in Politics Intergroup relations Racial resentment: conservatism on racial issues tied to a dislike of minorities Social identity theory: Feeling of belonging to positive groups enhances self-esteem Desire to maintain positive ingroup image may lead to ingroup favoritism and outgroup hostility Political tolerance: extending democratic rights to groups we don’t like. Candidate evaluation Abelson et al.: partially independent dimensions of evaluation (good vs. bad) Marcus et al.: physiological maintenance systems (disposition versus surveillance) Emotional responses to political issues

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Cognitive Consistency Theories Perceptual “gestalt” theories An irresistible urge to fill in patterns with missing data Heider’s balance theory A need to maintain harmonic valences among social triads Cognitive dissonance theory Challenges to cognitive dissonance Self-perception Self-esteem Self-presentation

Heider’s Balance Theory

Motivation and Cognition in Political Attitudes Cognitive economy Use of voting heuristics Self-interest Under what conditions does it apply? Candidate perception Wishful thinking: believing your candidate has a good chance of winning Projection effects: perceive your favorite candidate as close to your position on the issues Motivation and ideology Are liberals better able to tolerate ambiguity? Are conservatives driven by a need to maintain inequality? Motivated thinking among scientists…?

Motivation vs. Cognition Stereotyping and prejudice Hatred of outgroups Desire for positive self-esteem Authoritarian personality syndrome Social identity theory Economic self-interest or group-interest Social stereotypes Self-serving attribution Desire to uphold positive self-image Biasing effects of prior expectations Assimilation and contrast of evidence Desire to reach a particular conclusion Biased information set

Motivation with Cognition The “cognitive miser” The motive is to save effort Fiske's continuum theory Two “modes” of perception Categorical: based on prior expectations, stereotypes, etc. Piecemeal: based on a full consideration of all available evidence What determines the mode followed? Ability Opportunity Motivation (e.g., self-interest, interdependence, accountability) Dual-mode theories of persuasion Chaiken Petty and Cacioppo