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

这个项目考虑了个人的多重身份，有时是相互竞争的身份，以及这些不同的身份如何以政治相关的方式相互影响。更具体地说，它试图解释人们如何发展他们的核心价值观（这些价值观通常植根于他们的宗教信仰），并理解这些价值观如何塑造和被政治身份塑造。该项目汇集了政治学和社会学中以前不同的研究方向，以推进关于政治态度的基础和影响的直观理论。该项目提出了一个关于政治态度和核心价值观之间相互关系的理论，该理论基于个人社会化的各个阶段的时间。该理论将使用观察统计分析和实验方法进行检验。首先，通过利用自然实验，有可能估计政治身份和事件如何影响价值观和信仰。该项目的第二部分包括一系列实验。实验部分测试潜在的因果机制，以确定在什么条件下政治身份和宗教价值观是联系在一起的。该研究的智力价值与它对三个学术领域的贡献有关：1)社会认同理论，2)社会化与发展理论，以及3)两极分化理论。政治学家对不同的价值观——比如宗教和政治信仰——是如何相互作用的知之甚少；然而，这些问题的答案对当代政治舞台具有重要意义。随着道德问题在美国政治中扮演越来越重要的角色，理解不同身份和信仰结构之间的相互作用将是非常有趣的。我的研究的更广泛的影响涉及个人如何参与社会作为一个整体。如果像许多研究表明的那样，社区参与和公民参与是政治动员的途径（Rosenstone and Hansen 1993; Verba, Schlozman and Brady 1995），那么那些在社区中更活跃的人将更积极地参与政治，更有效。简而言之，社会生活和政治生活之间的关系可能会鼓励参与。

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.