The Impact of Country of Origin on Group Consciousness in Political Behavior Research

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The goal of this project is to gain insights into the political attitudes and behaviors of citizens with different countries of origin. Scholarly knowledge of the effects of country of origin on political opinions, behavior, and policy preferences remains limited, despite the fact that these groupings comprise a sizable portion of the electorate. This project will address this gap and develop an evidence-based understanding of the effect of country of origin on the political behavior of American citizens. Consistent with the mission of NSF, this study will contribute to a more informed and nuanced understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities facing democratic governance and national welfare in the United States in a period of uncertain transformation. In addition to the proposed research, this project will also support a small conference of diverse scholars with areas of expertise related to citizens' country of origin and gender that will include presentations by undergraduate and graduate students. This project will therefore connect scholars from across the country who share research interests and provide students from underrepresented backgrounds with a unique opportunity to gain hands-on research experience. The proposed research includes interviews and focus groups aimed at providing in-depth insights about Latinx political attitudes and a nationally representative survey of citizens. The resulting data will be used to evaluate how gender and country of origin interactively influence the opinions and political behavior of citizens and shape the scope and nature of group consciousness among American citizens. This project therefore enables the development of an intersectional theoretical approach to study how multiple social identities influence the opinions and political behavior of citizens. This cross-cutting approach allows this project to contribute to a gap in existing research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.