Geoffrey Wetherell - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Geoffrey Wetherell

The Political Psychology of Terrorism Fears, 2013

Public option versus the market: Perceived value violations drive opposition to healthcare reform, 2013

The debate over healthcare reform in the United States has been divisive. Research demonstrates... more The debate over healthcare reform in the United States has been divisive. Research
demonstrates that beliefs that policy beneficiaries violate values strongly predict opposition to these policies. Similar dynamics may be happening regarding opposition to healthcare reform. Specifically, this study tested the hypothesis that opposition to a public option in healthcare reform results from stereotypes that public-option beneficiaries violate values. In two studies utilizing three samples, beliefs about beneficiaries violating values of hard work consistently predicted opposition to a public option and an alternative market-based healthcare reform plan, often proposed by public-option opponents. Results also suggest that assertions that a public option would lead to bigger government increases opposition to a public option by indirectly masking underlying stereotypes about value violations.

Perceived value congruence and attitudes toward international relations and foreign policies, 2015

Much of the justification for granting foreign aid is to support nations and international poli... more Much of the justification for granting foreign aid is to support nations and international
policies promoting one's national values. However, little to no research has examined how perceptions of similarity between nations, especially value similarity, drive feelings toward other nations and policy preference. In 3 studies using United States samples, we examine relationships between dimensions of country-level similarity, perceptions of value similarity and threat, and policy support. Correlational data and manipulations of value similarity suggest that perceptions of value similarity are the most consistent predictor of support for foreign aid and are consistently driven by ally status and cultural similarity.

Discrimination across the ideological divide: The role of value violations and abstract values in discrimination by liberals and conservatives, 2013

Despite ample research linking conservatism to discrimination and liberalism to tolerance, both g... more Despite ample research linking conservatism to discrimination and liberalism to tolerance, both groups may discriminate. In two studies, we investigated whether conservatives and liberals support discrimination against value violators, and whether liberals' and conservatives' values distinctly affect discrimination. Results demonstrated that liberals and conservatives supported discrimination against ideologically dissimilar groups, an effect mediated by perceptions of value violations. Liberals were more likely than conservatives to espouse egalitarianism and universalism, which attenuated their discrimination; whereas the conservatives' value of traditionalism predicted more discrimination, and their value of self-reliance predicted less discrimination. This suggests liberals and conservatives are equally likely to discriminate against value violators, but liberal values may ameliorate …

Ceci n'est pas la mort: Evidence for the recruitment of self‐reference from surrealistic art under mortality salience, 2015

Previous research has demonstrated that death reminders influence how we perceive art. In the con... more Previous research has demonstrated that death reminders influence how we perceive art. In the context of terror management theory, this has been explained by the death‐transcending quality of art to convey cultural meaning. In two studies, we examined psychological and neurocognitive responses to naturalistic and surrealistic art when death was primed. We found that naturalistic paintings were evaluated similarly in terms of personal reassurance in both mortality salience and control condition, whereas surrealistic paintings were evaluated as more reassuring in the mortality salience condition than in the control condition. Using high‐field functional magnetic resonance imaging in a second study, we found a similar pattern of results, showing specific activation in the precuneus, a brain area associated with self‐related operations, in all prime conditions for the viewing of naturalistic paintings, but only in the death and disgust prime conditions when viewing surrealistic paintings. Our results suggest motivated self‐reference when viewing both naturalistic and surrealistic artworks under mortality salience.

Attributions for sexual orientation vs. stereotypes: how beliefs about value violations account for attribution effects on anti‐gay discrimination, 2014

Attributions for sexual orientation strongly predict opposition to gay rights policies; however, ... more Attributions for sexual orientation strongly predict opposition to gay rights policies; however, we propose that beliefs that gays and lesbians violate important values drive gay rights opposition and account for the relationship between attributions and anti-gay discrimination. In two studies, we found that beliefs that gays and lesbians violate values accounted for much of the relationship between attributions and anti-gay discrimination. In addition, these stereotypes were the most powerful predictors of opposition to gay rights when both value violations and attributions were included in the model. Results also demonstrated that violations of specific values predicted opposition to policies relevant to those values. This suggests that attributions of choice over sexual orientation are less relevant for predicting opposition to gay rights than beliefs about choice to uphold or violate values.

The complexity and ambivalence of immigration attitudes: Ambivalent stereotypes predict conflicting attitudes toward immigration policies., 2013

Americans’ conflicted attitudes toward immigrants and immigration has stymied immigration reform ... more Americans’ conflicted attitudes toward immigrants and immigration has stymied immigration reform for decades. In this article, we explore the nuanced nature of stereotypes about immigrants and how they relate to ambivalent attitudes toward immigrant groups and the disparate array of immigration policies that affect them. Using item response theory and multiple regression analysis, we identified and related stereotypes of different immigrant groups to group-based and policy attitudes. Results demonstrate that ambivalent stereotypes mapped onto ambivalent group-based and immigration policy attitudes. Specifically, stereotypes that portray groups in positive or sympathetic ways predicted positive attitudes toward the group and more supportive attitudes toward policies that facilitate their immigration to the United States. Conversely, negative qualities predicted negative attitudes toward the same group and support for policies that prevent the group from immigrating. Results are discussed in light of current theory related to stereotype content, complementarity of stereotypes, and broader implications for immigration attitudes and policy.

Democracy as a legitimizing ideology, 2015

Democracy as an abstract belief system bestows rights to individuals and serves egalitarian princ... more Democracy as an abstract belief system bestows rights to individuals and serves egalitarian principles. However, the language of democracy may be used to justify harmful treatment of others in the world. Data from 3 representative samples of adults are presented demonstrating that satisfaction with and support for democracy are associated with support for militarism, a hierarchy-maintaining tool, among those who oppose equality compared with those who support equality. Furthermore, these data highlight the importance of political (Study 2) and historical (Study 3) contexts, demonstrating that democracy is associated with militarism particularly when people oppose equality, in contexts in which democracy is especially valued, and at historical moments when it is militarily expedient (i.e., wartime).

Countries with Greater Gender Equality Have More Positive Attitudes and Laws Concerning Lesbians and Gay Men, 2017

Social scientists have long discussed and empirically demonstrated how attitudes toward lesbians ... more Social scientists have long discussed and empirically demonstrated how attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are determined in part by sexism and endorsement of gender roles, but only at the psychological level of analysis. We present data that considers these relationships at the cross-national level of analysis, using country-level measures of gender equality (the Gender Global Gap Index), aggregate measures of attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in a country, and a newly constructed measure of the progressiveness of sexual orientation laws. We show for the first time to our knowledge that countries that have the greatest gender equality also have (a) the most positive aggregate attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and (b) the strongest legislative protections for lesbians and gay men. These results hold even when controlling for plausible third variables such as a country’s level of religiosity and its economic and political development, each with their own separate effects. We discuss the results within the context of the various forces that contribute to, and work against, ensuring more accepting attitudes of, and equal rights for, lesbians and gay men. In conclusion, to fully understand support for lesbians and gay men and the laws that protect them, one should also consider how women are treated in a country.

Changes in income predict change in social trust: A longitudinal analysis, 2015

Social trust is a psychological variable important to politics, the community, and health. Theori... more Social trust is a psychological variable important to politics, the community, and health. Theorists have predicted that socioeconomic status determines social trust, but also that social trust determines socioeconomic status. The current study tested the viability of both causal directions using longitudinal data from representative samples of the United States and the United Kingdom. Results demonstrated that a model where increases in socioeconomic status (measured by income) predict increases in social trust is more viable than a model where increases in social trust predict increases in socioeconomic status.

Liberals and conservatives can show similarities in negativity bias, 2014

Negativity bias may underlie the development of political ideologies, but liberals and conserva... more Negativity bias may underlie the development of political ideologies, but liberals and
conservatives are likely to respond to threats similarly. We review evidence from research on intolerance, motivated reasoning, and basic psychological threats that suggest liberals and conservatives are more similar than different when confronting threatening groups,
situations, and information.

What attitudes are moral attitudes? The case of attitude heritability, 2012

Variation in the extent an attitude is imbued with moral conviction is a strong predictor of a va... more Variation in the extent an attitude is imbued with moral conviction is a strong predictor of a variety of consequential social judgments; however, the extant literature has not explained variation in moral conviction. The authors predict that some attitudes may be experienced as moral because they are heritable, promoting group survival and firmly rooting people in these attitudes. To test this hypothesis, the authors surveyed two community samples and a student sample (total N = 456) regarding the extent participants perceived 20 attitudes as moral attitudes, and compared these ratings to established estimates of attitude heritability. Across all three studies, attitudes with greater previously established heritability estimates were more likely to be experienced as moral, even when controlling for a variety of measures of attitude strength and the extent to which an attitude is associated with one’s religious beliefs.

The ideological-conflict hypothesis: Intolerance among both liberals and conservatives, 2014

Decades of research in social and political psychology have demonstrated that political conservat... more Decades of research in social and political psychology have demonstrated that political conservatives appear more intolerant toward a variety of groups than do political liberals. Recent work from our three independent labs has challenged this conventional wisdom by suggesting that some of the psychological underpinnings of intolerance are not exclusive to people on either end of the political spectrum. These studies have demonstrated that liberals and conservatives express similar levels of intolerance toward ideologically dissimilar and threatening groups. We suggest directions for future research and discuss the psychological and political implications of our conclusions.

The relationship between authoritarianism and life satisfaction changes depending on stigmatized status, 2015

Members of stigmatized social groups are typically more authoritarian than their nonstigmatized o... more Members of stigmatized social groups are typically more authoritarian than their nonstigmatized or higher status counterparts. We draw on research demonstrating that authoritarianism compensates for the negative effects of stigma to predict that this endorsement will be more psychologically beneficial (and less harmful) for the stigmatized compared to their high-status counterparts. Consistent with this idea, data from the 2008 (N = 2,322) and 2012 (N = 5,916) American National Election Study indicate that for members of stigmatized social groups (low income, low education, and ethnic minority), authoritarian child rearing values have more positive psychological effects than for members of high-status groups. These results were robust to covariates, including demographics, religiosity, political ideology, and cognitive style.

Bounded openness: The effect of openness to experience on intolerance is moderated by target group conventionality., 2015

Openness to experience is consistently associated with tolerance. We suggest that tests of the as... more Openness to experience is consistently associated with tolerance. We suggest that tests of the association between openness to experience and tolerance have heretofore been incomplete because they have primarily focused on prejudice toward unconventional target groups. We test (a) the individual difference perspective, which predicts that because people who are high in openness are more open to diverse and dissimilar people and ideas, they will express more tolerance than people who are low in openness and (b) the worldview conflict perspective, which predicts that people high and low in openness will both be intolerant toward those with different worldviews. Four studies, using both conventional and unconventional target groups, find support for an integrative perspective. People high in openness do appear more tolerant of diverse worldviews compared with people low in openness; however, at the same time, people both high and low in openness are more intolerant of groups whose worldviews conflict with their own. These findings highlight the need to consider how individual difference variables and features of the target groups may interact in important ways to influence the expression of prejudice.