Threat, Politics, and Attitudes: Toward a Greater Understanding of Rally-'Round-the-Flag Effects

Social scientists have long known that threatening situations can have a powerful effect on sociopolitical attitudes. One of the more dramatic examples of this phenomenon is the ''rally 'round the flag effect,'' characterized by dramatic spikes in popularity of the American...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society 2011-12, Vol.20 (6), p.343-348
Main Authors: Lambert, Alan J., Schott, J. P., Scherer, Laura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anger
Anxiety
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Conservatism
Demonstrations & protests
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human aggression
Identity theory
Liberalism
Motivation
Political attitudes
Political science
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social psychology
Social sciences
Terrorism
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Social scientists have long known that threatening situations can have a powerful effect on sociopolitical attitudes. One of the more dramatic examples of this phenomenon is the ''rally 'round the flag effect,'' characterized by dramatic spikes in popularity of the American president. Previous models of rally effects have strongly emphasized the role of anxiety and the desire for security as explanations for these changes in support. In this article, we present a contrasting view, showing support for an anger-based conceptualization that builds upon earlier research on emotional appraisal. We discuss the relevance of our findings for theory and research across a variety of different paradigms in the social psychological and political science literature.
ISSN:0963-7214
1467-8721
DOI:10.1177/0963721411422060