Carlos A Rivera-García | The University of Texas at Austin

Carlos A Rivera-García

The University of Texas at Austin, Government, Post-Doc

The University of Texas at Austin, Government, Post-Doc |

I'm a political psychologist from the University of Essex (U.K.).

My research interests lie in the intersection of the Experimental Social Psychology of Politics, Political Psychology, and Political Behaviour. I am particularly interested in understanding the psychological processes by which people develop, adhere, and adjust their political loyalties.

In my research I use Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski and Solomon, 1986), specifically the manipulation known as Mortality Salience (MS), to look at the way in which reminders of mortality mediate changes in political preferences, patterns of voting behaviour, and adherences to political parties.

It has been suggested that both epistemic and existential motives are highly interactive (e.g., Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003); my research focuses on two particular sub-elements of this model: TMT and its interaction with Need for Closure (NFC, Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem, 1993), that is, the desire to have cognitive closure and maintain it permanently.

In particular, I am interested on how existential threats (TMT) interact with an epistemic need for closure (NFC) by activating needs for consensus and agreement to, in turn, punish deviants from a perceived generalised political agreement.
Supervisors: Philip J. Cozzolino and Geoff Ward
Phone: +525565473406

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Talks

Sociedad y Pensamiento Social. Psicología Política [Society and Social Thinking. Political Psychology]

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Running Hand in Hand: Personality Traits, Political Cognition and Political Behaviour

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Political Psychology: Building a Democratic Citizenship

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Psicología Política

Interview about "What is "Political Psychology"?" (¿Qué es la "Psicología Política"?).

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Scarily coming to the center: Political centrism as an effect of mortality salience and a need for closure

Two studies assessed the relationship between need for closure (NFC; Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem,... more Two studies assessed the relationship between need for closure (NFC; Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem, 1993) and evaluations of political ideology changes, as a function of mortality salience (MS). Based on terror management theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) and previous research (e.g., Cozzolino, 2006; Jost et al., 2003), we hypothesized that abstract reminders of death would activate the facet of NFC that seeks group consensus and stability (as opposed to deviation and persuasion). Following an MS or control induction, 161 participants evaluated politicians who switched political ideologies (moved from the left to the right). In line with recent research (Fu et al., 2007), results indicate that MS induced people high in NFC to express greater support for politicians seeking consensus in the political center, compared to politicians endorsing liberal or conservative ideologies, an effect consistent with research linking NFC to desires for group centrism and collective closure. A second study (N= 122) clarified this issue further with participants evaluating political parties (rather than individual politicians) that were depicted as moving from their traditional left/right positions toward the political center in one condition, or parties that remained true to their traditional ideologies in a second condition. Results revealed that participants high in NFC exposed to MS expressed significantly higher levels of support for parties moving from the extreme right to the center, than for parties moving from the extreme left to the center. Full results from both studies will be presented, along with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.

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From Political Behaviour to Political Psychology

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Scarily Running Towards The Centre: Political centrism adherence as an effect of mortality salience.

A study was conducted to assess the relationship between Need for Closure (NFCS; Kruglanski, Webs... more A study was conducted to assess the relationship between Need for Closure (NFCS; Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem, 1993) and evaluations of politicians ideology changes, as a function of mortality salience (MS). Based on terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) and previous research (e.g., Cozzolino, 2006; Jost et. al., 2003), we hypothesized that abstract reminders of death would activate the facet of NFC that seeks group consensus and stability (as opposed to deviation and persuasion). Following an MS or control induction, 161 participants evaluated politicians who switched political ideologies. I explored this further in a second study (N=107) that had participants evaluate political parties (rather than individual politicians), that either moved toward the centre of the political spectrum in one condition or that did not move from their historic positions in the second condition. Results from Study 1 and Study 2 will be presented, along with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.

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How existential and epistemic motives influences reactions to perceived threaten personal liberty.

A recent model of why individuals adopt certain political ideologies has focused, in part, on the... more A recent model of why individuals adopt certain political ideologies has focused, in part, on the satisfaction of existential motives (Jost et al., 2003). Accordingly, terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) states that fears of death generate existential crises that individuals assuage by adopting ‘cultural worldviews’ and by adhering to dictates of those worldviews; this is typically demonstrated via an experimental manipulation called ‘mortality salience’ (MS). A new perspective suggests that individuals considering mortality in a more specific and individuated manner, via a manipulation called ‘death reflection’ (DR), are less likely to defend worldviews and more likely to pursue paths that promise autonomy (Cozzolino, 2006, 2008). Desires for autonomy as a function of this dual-existential perspective, then, should reflect in reactions to policies that threaten personal freedom. Consequently, we predicted that - to the extent that individuals express pride in their nation’s ideals (i.e., patriotism) - we would observe greater concern for threats to civil liberties among participants in a DR condition, but not an MS condition. Participants (N=90) were exposed to a mock BBC news article that suggested Governmental policies were restricting UK citizens’ liberty; we then assessed the participants’ disapproval of those policies. As predicted, moderated regressions revealed a significant, positive relationship between patriotism and disapproval of the policies among DR participants, not among MS or control participants. We will also present findings with implications for epistemic motives (i.e., need for closure) and for reduced trust in the State as a function of threatened liberty.

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Does party identification in Great Britain really exist?

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Teaching Documents

PS407-5-SP: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

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Sociedad y Pensamiento Social. Psicología Política [Society and Social Thinking. Political Psychology]

Views

Running Hand in Hand: Personality Traits, Political Cognition and Political Behaviour

Views

Political Psychology: Building a Democratic Citizenship

Views

Psicología Política

Interview about "What is "Political Psychology"?" (¿Qué es la "Psicología Política"?).

Views

Scarily coming to the center: Political centrism as an effect of mortality salience and a need for closure

Download

Views

From Political Behaviour to Political Psychology

Views

Scarily Running Towards The Centre: Political centrism adherence as an effect of mortality salience.

Views

How existential and epistemic motives influences reactions to perceived threaten personal liberty.

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Views

Does party identification in Great Britain really exist?

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PS407-5-SP: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

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PS114-4-FY: RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

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Scarily Coming To The Centre: Political Centrism As An Effect Of Mortality Salience And A Need For Closure.

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Scarily Coming To The Centre: Political Centrism As An Effect Of Mortality Salience And A Need For Closure.

Three studies assessed the relationship between need for closure (NFC; Kruglanski, Webster, & Kle... more Three studies assessed the relationship between need for closure (NFC; Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem, 1993) and evaluations of political ideology changes, as a function of mortality salience (MS). Based on terror management theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) and previous research (e.g., Cozzolino, 2006; Jost et al., 2003), we hypothesized that abstract reminders of death would activate the facet of NFC that seeks group consensus and stability (as opposed to deviation and persuasion). Following an MS or control induction, 156 participants evaluated politicians who switched political ideologies (moved from the left to the right). In line with recent research (Fu et al., 2007), results indicate that MS induced people high in NFC to express greater support for politicians seeking consensus in the political centre, compared to politicians endorsing liberal or conservative ideologies, an effect consistent with research linking NFC to desires for group centrism and collective closure. A second study (N= 170) clarified this issue further with participants evaluating political parties (rather than individual politicians) depicted as moving from their traditional left/ right positions toward the political centre in one condition, or parties that remained true to their traditional ideologies in a second condition. Results revealed that participants high in NFC exposed to MS expressed significantly higher levels of support for parties moving from the extreme right to the centre, than for parties moving from the extreme left to the centre. A third study (N=276) explored how the activation of specific needs for cognitive closure via MS would result in an increased support for a centrist political party described as uniform in thought and enjoying an internal (vs. split) mandate for the party’s manifesto. The results further indicate that reminders of mortality amplify demands for consensus and clarity more than signalling a demand for ideological clarity. Results and implications are discussed.

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