Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: The Intersection of Core Values and Political Identities

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project considers individuals' multiple, and sometimes competing, identities and how these various identities influence one another in politically relevant ways. More specifically, it seeks to explain how people develop their core values (which are often rooted in their religious beliefs) and to understand how these values shape and are shaped by political identities. The project brings together previously disparate strands of research in political science and sociology to advance an intuitive theory about the foundations and effects of political attitudes. The project presents a theory about the reciprocal relationship between political attitudes and core values based on the timing of the various stages of an individual's socialization. The theory will be tested using both observational statistical analysis and experimental methods. First, by exploiting natural experiments it is possible to estimate how political identities and events affect values and beliefs. The second part of the project includes a series of experiments. The experimental component tests potential causal mechanisms to determine under what conditions political identities and religious values are linked. The intellectual merit of the research is associated with its contributions to three bodies of academic work: theories of 1) social identity, 2) socialization and development, and 3) polarization. Political scientists know very little about how different sets of values-like religious and political beliefs-interact; however, the answers have important implications for the contemporary political arena. As moral issues assume a more prominent role in American politics, understanding the interplay between different identities and belief structures will be of great interest. The broader impacts of my research relate to how individuals engage within society as a whole. If, as much research has shown, community engagement and civic participation serves as an avenue for political mobilization (Rosenstone and Hansen 1993; Verba, Schlozman and Brady 1995), then those who are more active in their communities will be more politically engaged and effective. In short, the relationship between social life and political life may encourage participation.