Content area
Abstract
My dissertation research involves three distinct articles centered around one common theme: the influence of identity in guiding political attitudes. Drawing on theory from political science, sociology, and psychology, I use experimental methods and survey analyses to analyze how individuals with multiple and competing identities make political decisions. In the first part of my dissertation, I examine the influence of political identity over political attitudes. Using survey data and statistical methods, I first explain how the strength of political identity relates to engagement in politics, the very topic upon which the identity is based. In the second part of my research, I experimentally test the influence of competing identities. With a unique experimental design, I simultaneously test two conflicting priming mechanisms: threatening an identity, and appealing to sense of efficacy. In the third and final section of my dissertation research, I study the effects of identity strength within the context of group dynamics. I evaluate the effects of identity strength on motivated reasoning and, subsequently, on policy decisions in the context of groups. This project is a multi-layered approach to studying identity. First, I establish its importance as a distinct dimension from mere party identification. I show that the strength of the identification is key. Then, I demonstrate how two strong identities can be primed against one another and respondents are forced to weigh (i) relative identity strength and (ii) priming tactics as they reconcile their identities and make political decisions. Lastly, I bring the concept of identity strength into the group context to show how social interaction can moderate biased evaluations that are common to strong identifiers. This work informs how individuals' personal and social identities fundamentally influence their expressed political preferences.
