Term
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Definition
-Retrospective
-Prospective
-Subjective
-Objective |
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Term
| Retrospective Self Interest (Sears and Funk) |
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Definition
| Example: Did having Reagan in office make me better off financially |
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Term
| Prospective Self Interest (Sears and Funk) |
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Definition
| Example: WILL school busing affect my kids? |
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Term
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Definition
| Example: Do YOU THINK school busing will have negative economic consequences in your neighborhood |
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Term
| Objective Self-Interest (Sears and Funk) |
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Definition
| Example: Do YOU HAVE kids who would be bused? |
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Term
| Material Self Interest (Sears and Funk) |
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Definition
Interests must be TANGIBLE/MATERIAL
"Self"= the INDIVIDUAL (maybe individual's family)
Material self-interest is NOT: psychic gratification, concern for others, distant future considerations |
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Term
| Hibbing and Theiss-Morse: Public Too Self Interested? |
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Definition
| Example: Pam: I think we're to greedy and too self-centered, that we're not up to make sacrifices that it would not take for us to be truly governed by a democracy |
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Term
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Definition
| Smoking Example: Set out to examine role of self-interest in shaping attitudes |
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Term
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Definition
MINIMAL EFFECTS of SELF-INTEREST
-Predict attitude with self-interest measures and three "symbolic predispositions"
--Party ID
--Self-described political ideology
--Racial Tolerance
-Question: Does material self-interest predict political attitudes? |
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Term
| Self Interest typically WEAKLY associated with attitudes (if at all!!!) |
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Definition
-Support for school busing among white respondents not predicted by whether
--They had kids in public schools
--They lived in districts with busing
--They lived in all-white neighborhood
-Opposition to property tax and spending cuts not higher among public employees and recipients of government services |
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Term
| Self-interest typically weakly associated with attitudes (if at all!) |
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Definition
-Support for "law and order" policies only weakly associated with recent victimization and fear of crime in neighborhood
-Those with friends/relatives serving in Vietnam not substantially more anti-war
-Vulnerability to draft during confrontations w/USSR over Afghanistan (1980) did not predict opposition to draft or military action |
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Term
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Definition
Support for incumbents shaped by economic performance while in office
-What is meant by economic performance?
--SOCIOTROPIC VOTING: GDP, unemployment rate, etc
--POCKETBOOK VOTING: personal financial status (things better or worse under incumbent?) |
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Term
| WHEN DOES SELF-INTEREST matter? |
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Definition
-Clear, substantial costs and benefits
--Should we substantially cut YOUR taxes?
-Ambiguous Severe Threats
--Public employees: referenda substantially cutting local taxes and spending
--Smoking? 5cent pack clear/ but not substantial |
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Term
| MIller's argument in "The Norm of Self-Interest) |
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Definition
| Look up Prisoner's Dilemma |
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Term
| The "NORM OF SELF-INTEREST" |
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Definition
Belief that others are driven by self-interest-->belief that one should do the same
--Don't want to be suckered (descriptive)
---MATERIAL consequences of not being self-interested
--Don't want to LOOK LIKE a sucker (Prescriptive)
---SOCIAL consequences of not being self-interested |
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Term
| Miller: Self-interest and Attitudes |
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Definition
-Self interest doesn't shape attitudes much
-But we tend to thin kit does because information we encounter suggests it is
--People tend to explain their own behavior in terms of self-interest
--Institutions assume self-interest
Essentially it is a feedback loop
"If the impulse and the opportunity be suffered to coincide, we well know that neither moral nor religious motives can be relied on as an adequate control"- Federalist 51 |
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Term
| Self-interest does seem to shape willingness to ACT on attitudes |
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Definition
Self-Interest and Public Opinion
-Self-interest is typically a weak predictor of political attitude
--Some exceptions: most notably it matters when the stakes are clear and direct
-Self-interest does seem to affect behavior
--Miller: idea of standing: feel it's not your place to act if the matter doesn't concern you directly!
Example: Swag from NPR: Doesn't motivate you to donate: but gives you psychological permission to |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Who are we as individuals? |
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Definition
-Basic evolved biological/human traits
--Drive to eat, find shelter, etc.
-Stable personality traits
-Values/other "Characteristic Adaptations"
--Group attitudes/identities (e.g., partisanship)
-Experiences/Biography
--Went to college at Loyola |
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Term
| Stable Personality Traits: |
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Definition
Enduring variations in "what people are like"
-Shape people's responses to broad array of stimuli they encounter |
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Term
| Who are we as individuals? |
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Definition
Basic evolved biological/human trait
-Drive to eat, find shelter, etc..
Stable personality traits
Values/other "characteristic adaptations"
-Group attitudes/identities (e.g., partisanship)
Experiences/Biography
--Went to college at Loyola |
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Term
| Stable personality traits: |
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Definition
Enduring variations in "what people are like"
-shape people's responses to broad array of stimuli they encounter |
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