Graduation Date
Spring 2019
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Psychology, option Academic Research
Committee Chair Name
Amber M. Gaffney
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Justin D. Hackett
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Community Member or Outside Professional
Third Committee Member Name
Gregg Gold
Third Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Schism, Voice, Leadership, Uncertainty, Collective action, Secession
Subject Categories
Psychology
Abstract
The present work examined the conditions under which political partisans would desire to schism from their political party. Drawing on uncertainty-identity theory, the social identity theory of leadership, and the literature on schism, this thesis predicted that under conditions of high uncertainty, partisans would be less likely to schism from their party because they would be willing to accept limits to their voice from political leaders. A broad sample of California Republicans (N = 218) and Democrats (N = 249) were examined using the pretense of either support for or opposition to legislation on DACA enacted by the leader of their respective party. The results did not support the primary research hypotheses that people who experience elevated levels of self-uncertainty will have less of a desire to schism relative to people lower in self-uncertainty when they are denied voice from a political leader. However, the experimental design and exploratory analyses suggest a novel way to examine schism with respect to uncertainty.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Sherburne, Bryan, "Get the fuck out for a positive identity" (2019). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 295.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/295