Grace Deason - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Grace Deason

An authoritarian predisposition is a values orientation concerned with the relative weighting of ... more An authoritarian predisposition is a values orientation concerned with the relative weighting of social conformity and individual autonomy values. This predisposition predicts attitudes and behaviors conditional on perceived threat to ingroup wellbeing. Perceived threat pushes the less authoritarian to adopt attitudes similar to those of the more authoritarian. This dynamic relationship has been previously demonstrated in a handful of cross-sectional and panel studies but has yet to be subjected to experimental manipulation. We conducted a survey experiment on a student sample in the U.S. that manipulated perceived threat and whether that threat was framed in terms of either individual autonomy values or social conformity values. We expected that authoritarianism and threat would interact to predict attitudes toward civil liberties and that framing the threat in terms of specific values would negate this interaction by reminding individuals of their predispositional value preference. The results of this experiment replicate previous findings on this dynamic relationship and provide evidence for our theoretical model: this dynamic results from threatened individuals reflexively and implicitly framing civil liberties issues in terms of social conformity values. Our findings suggest that reframing among the less authoritarian is preventable by reminding them of their preference for individual autonomy.

University of British Columbia Press eBooks, Jul 12, 2017

Politics, Groups, and Identities

ABSTRACT This article argues that motherhood has the potential to operate as a symbol in a politi... more ABSTRACT This article argues that motherhood has the potential to operate as a symbol in a political campaign. An experimental study examined the psychological impact of maternal appeals – defined broadly as an emphasis on traditional characteristics of mothers – in men and women’s campaigns for elected office. Results indicated that maternal appeals primed stereotypical maternal traits, increasing the weight placed on warmth in support for male and female candidates. Maternal appeals also acted as a frame, shifting the attitudes of gender-schematic and gender-aschematic members of the audience in different directions. Findings are discussed in relation to the goals of maternal political activism and women’s political representation. By presenting characteristics traditionally associated with mothers as qualities that are important in political leadership, maternal appeals have the potential to fulfill some of the hopes that activists have held for such appeals over the past century.

The Journal of Politics

In this article, we argue that authoritarianism will be associated with reduced political interes... more In this article, we argue that authoritarianism will be associated with reduced political interest and participation to a greater extent among those who identify with the left rather than the right because left-leaning politics—which challenges the status quo—threatens more instability and flux. Using data from the United States, we provide evidence for this first hypothesis. Using multinational European data, we also provide support for a second hypothesis that this interaction would be more evident in “Westernized” contexts, where the traditional left-right difference is clearly defined, than in Eastern European countries, where its meaning is less distinct; and we conceptually replicate the authoritarianism results using a measure of support for “conservation” values favoring security, conformity, and tradition. Together, these results suggest that the lower visibility of left-wing authoritarianism relative to its counterpart on the right may be due in part to greater withdrawal from politics among left-leaning authoritarians.

Political Psychology, 2016

In the United States, acceptance of sexual minorities (e.g., gay men and lesbians) has increased ... more In the United States, acceptance of sexual minorities (e.g., gay men and lesbians) has increased substantially since the early 1990s. This study examined whether authoritarians' attitudes have been influenced by the societal shift toward greater acceptance of sexual minorities. Using data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) collected between 1992 and 2012, we tested a model in which authoritarianism, endorsement of egalitarian values, and social norms shifting in the direction of tolerance predict individual attitudes toward sexual minorities and LGBT rights issues. Results indicated that (1) there was a subset of authoritarians who endorsed egalitarian values, (2) authoritarians in general became more tolerant (i.e., held less negative attitudes) toward sexual minorities between 1992 and 2012, and (3) “egalitarian authoritarians” held more positive attitudes toward sexual minorities than other authoritarians. The findings contribute to contemporary theory and research on authoritarianism, which is moving from a monolithic view of authoritarianism to one in which culture and core values activate and shape manifestations of authoritarian tendencies.

Mean number of times candidates aired maternal appeals 2-2 Correlations between variables used to... more Mean number of times candidates aired maternal appeals 2-2 Correlations between variables used to test Hypotheses 1 and 2 91 2-3 Correlations between variables used to test Hypothesis 3 92 2-4 Correlations between variables used to test Hypothesis 3 93 2-5 Visual maternal appeals as a function of candidate gender, party, and feminine issues 2-6 Verbal maternal appeals as a function of candidate gender, party, and feminine issues 2-7 Winning the election as a function of candidate gender, party, and visual maternal appeals 2-8 Winning the election as a function of candidate gender, party, and verbal maternal appeals 3-1 Means and Standard Deviations of Study Variables 3-2 Correlations between variables used to test Hypotheses 3 and 5 3-3 Correlations between variables used to test Hypothesis 4 3-4 Correlations between variables used to test Hypothesis 6 3-5 Feminine issue competence as a function of gender, party, and maternal appeals 3-6 Masculine issue competence as a function of gender, party, and maternal appeals 3-7 Candidate competence as a function of gender, party, and maternal appeals 3-8 Candidate warmth as a function of gender, party, and maternal appeals viii 3-9 Likelihood of voting for the candidate as a function of gender, party, and maternal appeals 3-10 Gender schematicity and the effect of maternal appeals on the likelihood of voting for the candidate

Hogg/Extremism and the Psychology of Uncertainty, 2011

Politics, Groups, and Identities, 2014

The family, and motherhood in particular, have long been themes in American politics, but have be... more The family, and motherhood in particular, have long been themes in American politics, but have been more prominent in the last three decades [Laurel Elder and Steven Greene. 2012. The Politics of Parenthood: Causes and Consequences of the Politicization and Polarization of the American Family. New York: SUNY Press; Jill S. Greelee 2014. The Political Consequences of Motherhood. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press]. Both parties present a traditional image of a two-parent, middle-class family, a structure that invokes notions of women in a traditional domestic role. The re-emergence of motherhood in American politics, which we refer to as Politicized Motherhood, presents challenges for women who pursue leadership positions. Like previous iterations of maternal politics that justified women's political actions during the Progressive Era, Politicized Motherhood has the potential to motivate women to run for office and to frame female candidacies in beneficial ways. Yet, it also has the potential to activate and reinforce gender stereotypes that undermine women's capacity to see themselves as leaders and threaten female candidates’ potential to be successful. This paper examines the implications of Politicized Motherhood for women who compete for political leadership roles in the USA. We argue that Politicized Motherhood is likely to impact each stage of a woman's career in political leadership, from deciding to run to structuring a campaign and winning voter support. Ultimately, Politicized Motherhood is likely to exacerbate some of women's political challenges, but may also have the potential to transcend these challenges.

The legal policy goals of Title VII are clearly stated, but disparate treatment doctrine, which i... more The legal policy goals of Title VII are clearly stated, but disparate treatment doctrine, which is framed around a judicially created search for a “discriminatory motive,” is incoherent. Drawing on the insights from decades of social-psychological research on discrimination, we propose an alternative framework for the disparate treatment cause of action that rejects the “discriminatory motive” requirement in favor of a focus on the extent to which employers evidence a commitment to the goal of merit-based decision-making. Using several examples, we illustrate how the proposed framework could be reliably used to resolve even complex disparate treatment cases. In terms of administrability and satisfaction of the policy goals underlying Title VII, the proposed framework improves on existing doctrine. Finally, the proposed framework embodies a novel approach for using empirical social science to inform the development of legal doctrine, one with the potential to open new doors for socially beneficial collaboration between the two academic fields.

Abstract will be provided by author.

Frontiers in Psychology, 2014

Nationwide in the United States, 70% of faculty members in higher education are employed off the ... more Nationwide in the United States, 70% of faculty members in higher education are employed off the tenure-track. Nearly all of these non-tenure-track (NTT) appointments share a quality that may produce stress for those who hold them: contingency. Most NTT appointments are contingent on budget, enrollment, or both, and the majority of contingent faculty members are hired for one quarter or semester at a time. Significant research has investigated the effects of contingency on teaching, students, departments, colleges, and universities; however, little research has focused on the psychological experiences of NTT faculty. The current study examined perceptions of workplace stressors and harm, organizational commitment, common coping mechanisms, and depression, anxiety and stress among NTT faculty using a longitudinal design that spanned 2-4 months. Results indicate that NTT faculty perceive unique stressors at work that are related to their contingent positions. Specific demographic characteristics and coping strategies, inability to find a permanent faculty position, and commitment to one's organization predispose NTT faculty to perceive greater harm and more sources of stress in their workplaces. Demographic characteristics, lower income, inability to find a permanent faculty position, disengagement coping mechanisms (e.g., giving up, denial), and organizational commitment were associated with the potential for negative outcomes, particularly depression, anxiety, and stress. Our findings suggest possibilities for institutional intervention. Overall, we argue that universities would be well-served by attending to the needs of NTT faculty on campus in order to mitigate negative outcomes for institutions, students, and faculty.