SGER: Reactions to Katrina--Emotions, Stereotypes, and Policy Evaluation

人们对卡特里娜飓风的情绪反应如何影响他们对公共政策和政府机构（如联邦应急管理局、总统行政部门、国会和地方/州政府）的评估？人们的情绪反应如何影响他们对卡特里娜飓风种族问题的刻板印象和态度？这个项目将通过研究来寻找这些问题的答案，这些研究表明，因为情绪如愤怒与确定性的评估有关，而情绪如恐惧和悲伤与不确定性的评估有关，经历愤怒的人比经历恐惧或悲伤的人更不可能参与批判性思维，更有可能表现出刻板的行为。本研究将检验三个假设：第一，确定性情绪状态下的个体比不确定性情绪状态下的个体表现出更多的刻板印象使用；第二，确定性情绪状态下的个体比不确定性情绪状态下的个体表现出更多的政治两极化态度和政策评价；第三，这些特定情绪的影响会因个人与卡特里娜飓风的物理和社会接近而被强化。该提案将推进社会心理学、法律以及关于特定情绪、刻板行为、公共政策评估和政治两极分化之间相互作用的判断和决策方面的基础科学知识。了解这些过程将使公民和立法者能够就这些非常重要的问题进行更知情的讨论，并制定更深思熟虑的法律和政策。

How do people's emotional reactions to Hurricane Katrina influence their evaluation of public policies and governmental bodies such as FEMA, the Presidential Administration, Congress, and local/state governments? How do people's emotional reactions influence their stereotype usage and attitudes toward racial issues regarding Hurricane Katrina? This project will seek answers to questions such as these by building on research indicating that because emotions such as anger are associated with appraisals of certainty whereas emotions such as fear and sadness are associated with appraisals of uncertainty, individuals who experience anger are less likely than those who experience fear or sadness to engage in critical thinking, and are more likely to exhibit stereotypic behavior. The proposal will test three hypotheses: first, individuals in emotional states associated with certainty will exhibit more stereotype usage compared with individuals in emotional states associated with uncertainty; second, individuals in emotional states associated with certainty will exhibit more politically polarized attitudes and policy evaluations compared with individuals in emotional states associated with uncertainty; and, third, that these influences of specific emotions will be accentuated by individuals' physical and social proximity to Hurricane Katrina. The proposal will advance basic scientific knowledge in social psychology, law, and judgment and decision making regarding the interplay between specific emotions, stereotypic behavior, public policy evaluation, and political polarization. Understanding these processes will allow citizens and lawmakers to have more informed discussions and to craft more deliberate laws and policies about these very important issues.