Traci Y. Craig

Beliefs in Conspiracies

This study used canonical correlation to examine the relationship of 11 individual difference variables to two measures of beliefs in conspiracies. Undergraduates were administered a questionnaire that included these two measures (beliefs in specific conspiracies and attitudes toward the existence of conspiracies) and scales assessing the 11 variables. High levels of anomie, authoritarianism, and powerlessness, along with a low level of self-esteem, were related to beliefs in specific conspiracies, whereas high levels of external locus of control and hostility, along with a low level of trust, were related to attitudes toward the existence of conspiracies in general. These findings support the idea that beliefs in conspiracies are related to feelings of alienation, powerlessness, hostility, and being disadvantaged. There was no support for the idea that people believe in conspiracies because they provide simplified explanations of complex events. History is a conspiracy, set in motion by demonic forces of almost transcendent power. (Hofstadter, 1965, p. 29) Conspiracies involve multiple actors working together in secret to achieve hidden goals that are perceived to be unlawful or malevolent (Zonis & Joseph, 1994). Beliefs in conspiracies abound in our society, as they do in other societies (Graumann & Moscovici, 1987; Hofstadter, 1965; Moynihan, 1985; Robins & Post, 1997; Zonis & Joseph, 1994). For instance, national opinion polls generally find that 85 to 90% of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in killing President Kennedy (Goertzel, 1994). A random sample of New Jersey

Rhetorical Question Use and Resistance to Persuasion: An Attitude Strength Analysis

Although previous research has provided indirect evidence that rhetorical questions can increase attitudinal resistance, what little work that was done was not specifically designed to examine the issue. Current models of attitude change suggest that rhetorical questions can increase persuasion and message processing, creating a relatively strong, resistant attitude. These processing and resistance effects in turn may be mediated by a property of attitude strength such as participants’ cognitive responses. In Study 1, placing rhetorical questions in a message increased participants’ message processing and counterargument generation relative to a control message. In addition, participants’ attitudes were mediated by participants’ cognitive responses. Study 2 found that a message containing rhetorical questions increased participants’ attitudinal resistance to an attacking message more than a control message, and the resistance effects were related to participants’ cognitive responses. These results provide the first direct evidence for the resistance effects of rhetorical question use and for mediators.

Language and Persuasion: Linguistic Extremity Influences Message Processing and Behavioral Intentions

The present studies explore the role of linguistic extremity on message processing, persuasion, and behavioral intentions. Past research has found that the use of intense language has led to increases in attitude—behavior consistency. The authors present research that suggests that one reason for these effects is because linguistic extremity increases message processing, a common antecedent to attitude strength. Across two studies, linguistic extremity increased message processing relative to a control message. Study 2 replicated the increased processing effects with a different topic, and linguistic extremity led to increases in intentions to sign a petition when the message contained strong arguments. Furthermore, increases in behavioral intentions were mediated by participants’ amount of processing. Implications for linguistic extremity as a linguistic marker of attitude strength are discussed.

The Cultural Negotiation of Publics–Science Relations Effects of Idaho Residents’ Orientation Toward Science on Support for K-12 STEM Education

Understanding the intersections of science and publics has led to research on how diverse publics interpret scientific information and form positions on science-related issues. Research demonstrates that attitudes toward science, political and religious orientation, and other social factors affect adult interactions with science, which has implications for how adults influence K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Based on a statewide survey of adults in Idaho (n = 407), a politically and religiously conservative western state, we demonstrate how attitudes toward science, measured through a composite measure “orientation toward science,” and other social factors are correlated with support for STEM education. Results show that “orientation toward science,” along with political orientation and respondents’ perceptions of feeling informed about science, predicts behavior intentions to support STEM education. Our findings suggest that a nuanced and localized approach to fostering support for K-12 STEM education would resonate with populations regardless of political orientation, and they illuminate new ways of thinking about how political orientation more generally impacts thinking about science in the context of complicated “socio-scientific relations.” In exploring how people think about science in a politically and religiously conservative state, we provide insights on potential outcomes in other states, should conservative ideology spread. We argue that the publics’ relationship with science and, by extension, support for science education, is more fluid, as many of us suspect, than ideological polemics suggest.

Tomboy as Protective Identity

The tomboy in contemporary U.S. culture is a complex identity, providing meaning to many girls and women. In this article, we argue tomboy as a gendered social identity also provides temporary “protections” to girls and women in three main ways. First, tomboy identity can excuse masculine-typed behavior in girls and women and, in doing so, protect women from presumptions about sexual reputation and sexual orientation. Second, tomboy identities can provide some protection for lesbian girls and women who prefer to not divulge their sexual orientation. And, third, tomboy identity can gain women limited privilege to spaces for which masculinity is an unspoken requirement. The temporary nature of the protections provided to tomboys undermines the ability of tomboys to truly transcend the binary gender system.

A Mixed Methods Approach to Measuring Depth of Group Information Processing in the Context of Deliberative Public Involvement

This article presents a mixed methods procedure for evaluating information processing and the role of social influences in deliberative public involvement groups. Specifically, it describes an interpretive, qualitative coding scheme for analyzing group discussions to quantitatively assess how group differences in information processing and social influences affect decision judgments. To substantiate the need for this new approach, the contributions of social psychology for better understanding persuasive influences in groups and individual information processing are described in relation to participatory public involvement contexts. The approach is then described using examples from a deliberative public involvement process. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges associated with the proposed technique and suggestions for research to advance the technique and assess its contribution to mixed methods research.

The Pedagogical Challenge of Teaching Privilege, Loss, and Disadvantage in Classrooms of Invisible Social Identities

Often the ways in which we teach about privilege highlight the experiences of privileged groups in contrast to the experiences of students from less privileged social identity groups. This chapter explores pedagogical exercises that may help people see invisible privileges, but at the same time highlights the extent and acute feelings related to the disadvantaged position. This may present a particularly complex challenge when facing a classroom of individuals for whom a stigmatized identity may not be visible (e.g., sexual orientation, gender non-conforming). In this chapter, I will attempt to address the challenge of countering prevailing hegemonic worldviews in the classroom without simultaneously creating unproductive discomfort for sexual and gender minority students.

Leveraging Processing to Understand Linguistic Cues, Power and Persuasion

In a persuasion context, how something is said can influence perceptions of power and subsequent information processing just as much as what is said. Here we focus predominantly on the ways in which various linguistic cues and styles (e.g. rhetorical questions, linguistic extremity) can impact persuasion attempts. Using common dual- and multi-process models as a guide, we examine how linguistic cues and the associated power dynamic serve multiple roles in a persuasion context. Taken together, the role and resultant information processing determine the durability of attitudes formed in the persuasion context. Taking each linguistic variable in turn, there are clear indicators that linguistic cues also convey information about power dynamics. This information about the relative power between source and audience also influences information processing and attitude strength. By leveraging information-processing models it is possible to discuss implications for attitude strength, confidence and durability. As a result of these processes, linguistic cues provide a mechanism by which power dynamics are both revealed and reified. Finally, while most research has focused on the impact of persuasion on attitudes towards a wide variety of topics, we propose that using particular linguistic cues can influence not only attitudes toward messages, but also attitudes toward people.