ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Need for closure effect on collective action intentions and behavior toward immigrants in Italy: The mediation of binding foundations and political conservatism
Valeria De Cristofaro,
Valerio Pellegrini,
Conrad Baldner,
Martijn van Zomeren,
Stefano Livi,
Antonio Pierro,
Corresponding Author
Valeria De Cristofaro
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Correspondence
Valeria De Cristofaro, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorValerio Pellegrini
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorConrad Baldner
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMartijn van Zomeren
Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorStefano Livi
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorAntonio Pierro
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorValeria De Cristofaro,
Valerio Pellegrini,
Conrad Baldner,
Martijn van Zomeren,
Stefano Livi,
Antonio Pierro,
Corresponding Author
Valeria De Cristofaro
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Correspondence
Valeria De Cristofaro, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorValerio Pellegrini
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorConrad Baldner
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorMartijn van Zomeren
Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorStefano Livi
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorAntonio Pierro
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Why are people (de)motivated to mobilize in favor of immigrants? Addressing this question, we investigated the role of individuals' epistemic motivation (i.e., need for closure) in influencing the process of becoming motivated to participate in collective action in favor of immigrants in Italy. Specifically, the mediational role of binding moral foundations and political conservatism in explaining the relationship between need for closure and collective action in favor of immigrants was examined in three studies. It was hypothesized that a heightened need for closure would be indirectly and negatively associated with collective action in favor of immigrants, sequentially mediated first through binding moral foundations and then political conservatism. We found support for this prediction when either dispositional measure (Study 1 and Study 2) or an experimental induction (Study 3) of need for closure were used, and when both collective action intentions (Study 1 and Study 3) and behavior (Study 2) were assessed. The results suggest that need for closure constitutes a powerful motivational force that leads individuals to engage in uncertainty-reducing evaluations and actions. We discuss these results regarding how they are related with previous work and their implications for research and practice.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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