Content area
Abstract
This dissertation explores the relationship between economic insecurity, affect, appraisal, and socio-political attitudes. I argue that emotions plays a crucial role in shaping cognition and the evaluation of social and political facts, and thus are a key mechanism connecting economic pressures and changes in individual behavior. By combining social psychology with the study of political economics and organizational behavior, I seek sounder micro-foundations for macro-social analyses, and a better understanding of how the individual and the economy affect one another.
The themes of economic insecurity, affect, and appraisal are explored in three distinct empirical contexts. First, I show that labor market insecurity impacts generalized social trust, but that different insecurity experiences and institutional environments heavily moderate this relationship. The second chapter explores the theme of insecurity in a very specific setting: German work councilors and their relationship with management in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. I show that economic insecurity and hardship do not necessarily lead to decreased organizational trust, and that relational trust remains important. Finally, I apply affect appraisal theory to economic voting and show that affect moderates the responsibility attribution for periods of economic insecurity, and thus the link between periods of economic hardship and evaluations of the incumbent.
