Psychological Traits Impact Civic Behavior

According to our award-winning Research Team, a psychological trait is a relatively stable pattern of thinking, feeling, or behaving that influences how a person sees and responds to the world around them. You can think of traits as mental lenses or settings for your brain that impact how people see the world. We all hold traits like these to some extent depending on who we are and what our lived experiences have been!

Traits help explain why two people can hear the same message and react in totally different ways! By studying and even quantifying these traits, we can learn a lot about how to best reach and persuade the women in our audience.

Here are some of the most significant traits that Galvanize Action uses to understand ideologically-moderate women:

AUTHORITARIANISM
A psychological preference for order, obedience, and strong-leadership—often in response to perceived social threat or uncertainty.

Authoritarianism arises when people feel the world is dangerous, unstable, or morally degraded. It can predict both in-group favoritism and support for more punitive leaders. Interestingly, authoritarianism can be latent in ideologically-moderate people until it is activated in times of stress or uncertainty.

BENEVOLENT SEXISM
A form of gender bias that appears to be positive (“women should be protected”), but reinforces traditional gender roles that maintain male dominance. 

Benevolent sexism can offer women a psychological sense of safety and moral value, but it comes at the cost of autonomy. This is a particularly strong barrier to civic engagement because it limits self-efficacy and encourages passivity over action.

CONSPIRACY THINKING (CONSPIRACIST IDEATION)
The degree to which people have a tendency to believe in conspiracy theories.

This trait examines the tendency some people have to believe in conspiracy theories, which might include the moon landing being faked, the Earth being flat, or the 2020 election having been “stolen.”

INTERNALIZED SEXISM
The experience of taking in messages about the inferiority of women, believing them, and enacting them on oneself and others of the same gender.*

Internalized sexism works by rewarding self-silence; women gain social acceptance by conforming to norms that devalue their power (Szymanski et al, 2009). For our audience, this can show up as discomfort with women who are perceived as assertive or ambitious and as othering women who do not conform to “traditional gender roles.”

*People of all genders who were socialized as women can also experience internalized sexism or have it enacted upon them.

JUST WORLD VIEW
The belief that people get what they deserve and bad outcomes reflect personal failure not structural injustice.

From a psychology perspective, just world view is a mechanism to help people feel like the world is predictable and fair. But the world isn’t fair! Just world view leads to blaming victims and denying systemic problems. This barrier can undermine empathy and solidarity by making inequality seem “deserved” and therefore not fixable or worth addressing. 

COLORBLINDNESS (COLORBLIND RACIAL RESENTMENT)
A belief system that denies systemic racism and perceives racial equity efforts as unfair advantages for others.

We’ve all heard someone say they “don’t see color” or “we’re all the human race.” That is racial colorblindness! It’s a form of denying racism, which mentally protects worldviews where the current inequitable system seems fair. For people high in colorblindness, conversations about race are uncomfortable and feel like a personal accusation, which can lead to defensiveness or shutting down.

SOCIAL INSIGNIFICANCE (SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE)
A subjective sense that one’s social group and self lacks relevance or influence in the broader cultural or political landscape.

Social insignificance can undermine social cohesion and increase othering. If a group feels like they used to matter more in America but are now overlooked in today’s cultural landscape, they can become frustrated and disengaged. 

POLITICAL SELF-EFFICACY (CIVIC SELF-EFFICACY)
The belief that your voice matters, that you can understand and meaningfully participate in politics.

Political self-efficacy is really important because people won’t participate in democracy if they believe it doesn’t work! When people repeatedly feel powerless to influence outcomes, they may stop engaging altogether. 

SELF-ESTEEM
A person’s overall evaluation of their own worth or value. Not just confidence, but a sense of deservingness, capability and acceptance in the world.

People who feel secure in themselves are more likely to trust others and participate in civic life. When they feel uncertain about their own worth, they’re more vulnerable to messaging that is based on division, fear, and othering.

RELIGIOSITY
The degree to which religious beliefs and practices shape a person’s identity and understanding of the world, their place in it, and how they should act.

High religiosity is associated with greater community involvement and trust in in-group institutions (Putnam & Campbell, 2010). It is also linked to a preference for stability, hierarchy, and “traditional gender roles.”

TRUST IN GOVERNMENT
The belief that government institutions are fair, competent, and act in the public’s best interest.

When people don’t trust institutions, they opt out, believing that participation won’t make a difference. For our audience, that can show up as calling the system “rigged” or having a low interest in civic processes even when they really care about the issues at stake.

Curious about these segments? Keep reading to learn more about Galvanize Action’s audience!