Doctoral Dissertation Research: Deceptive Self-Signals - Activating Political Identity to Affirm a Positive Self-Image

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

General A large amount of political expression today occurs in social network settings. These are low-stakes exercises in which individuals simply express opinions that are often anonymous, or essentially anonymous. This proposal seeks to explain why individuals express support for certain policies and political parties on social media when doing so is unlikely to enhance their social standing, material well-being, or to influence public policy. In particular, the PI asks whether individuals gain some type of benefit simply from making such expressions, even if they do so anonymously, and assesses whether the motivations underlying political expression are distinct from those of other types of expression. While this type of political expression is extremely common, we lack clear answers to why people do it and what benefits they gain from it. This study provides a new explanation for a type of political behavior based on a concept from the field of behavioral economics known as self-signaling. In this respect, the study helps to explain an emerging type of political behavior by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach. By gaining a better understanding of the individuals' different motivations, the study has the potential to increase the likelihood for positive collective outcomes in an era marked by high degrees of political polarization. Technical In this project, the PI theorizes that people are motivated to make political expressions partly as a low-cost way of signaling to themselves that they possess certain desired attributes, values, and associated behavior. Individuals have incomplete knowledge about extent to which they possess desired attributes and values, and use political expression as a low-cost way to gain a positive self-image. Further, although both self-identified liberals and conservatives are similarly motivated to engage in this behavior, they do so to activate different desired self-images associated with their respective ideological disposition. Expressing support for liberal policies is a relatively costless way for self-identifying liberals to feel that they are generous and compassionate, just as expressing support for conservative policies is a low-cost way for self-identifying conservatives to feel moral and self-reliant. That said, people do not put their "money where their mouth is." Self-identified liberals do not donate more to charity, nor are self-identified conservatives more moral. Thus, political expression may constitute a form of deceptive self-signaling. To evaluate this theory, the PI utilizes an innovative experimental design. Specifically, the PI tests whether subjects exhibit an enhanced self-image following anonymous political expression, and whether the attributes on which subjects rate themselves more highly correspond with their ideology. Next, the PI tests whether individuals feel they can act more selfishly after engaging in political expression, especially when the costs to acting in a manner consistent with the desired values increases. Last, the PI investigates whether appealing to individuals-specific self-images can lead them to engage in political expressions that entail higher costs, which could lead to more desirable types of collective outcomes.