Student Major

Psychology

Presentation Abstract or Description

The presence of white nationalist extremism in the United States has escalated. Extant research has examined how threats from extremism and prejudice-motivated violence affect perceptions of these groups, particularly normalization and severity of threat. Other research has illuminated how perceived ideological threats further impact political ideology. However, little research examines how white nationalist threats impact political ideology. Our study investigated how exposure to threats from neo-Nazi extremism affects political attitudes. Over two studies (total N = 690), participants were primed with statistics and imagery of violence committed by neo-Nazis or Islamic extremists or were assigned to a control condition. Then, participants rated their mood, along with a battery of policy attitudes. Participants assigned to both threat primes (vs. control) reported increased anger and fear and more support for censoring & aggression towards both groups. Mediation analyses showed that these emotions contributed to increased aggression and censorship. Taken collectively, these findings illustrate how such threats influence political policies.

Presentation Format

Poster

Conference Name

Society for Personality & Social Psychology 2024 Annual Conference

Conference Date(s) and Location

February 8-10, 2024, San Diego, CA

Faculty Mentor

Fade Eadeh

Quarter Award Was Given

Winter 2024

Document Type

Article

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