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Will be sure to share the results as they become available!

The paper is now out, and you can read it here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lhYz51f8w... This is joint work with Zak Tormala and Christian Wheeler at Stanford.

Very astute piece by @anniekarni.bsky.social on how Democrats are embracing working-class candidates. My research lab has multiple ongoing projects on this very idea, so stay tuned for some empirical data coming soon! www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/u... www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/u...

9mo

Mohamed A. Hussein

We see the DV of choice of extreme candidates as an understudied one in psychology. I hope we see more research on it. We also think that studying how people assess whether a candidate is extreme or moderate would be an exciting future direction.

Is this just about group identity? Unlikely. In another study, we used LLMs. They either prompted Ps to reflect on their views, or to connect those views to their identity. When views were tied to identity, attitudes grew more extreme and so did support for extreme candidates.

This effect was robust to … different descriptions of extreme candidates 👉different issues 👉controlling for other attitude dimensions (e.g., certainty, importance, moralization, knowledge). 👉Different methods (e.g., conjoint, vignettes, human-LLM interactions)

9mo

In a Conjoint study, we had people choose between different candidates (different ages, backgrounds, views on social issues). We measured people’s identity relevance. As identity relevance increased, people became more likely to choose the candidate who is extreme.

9mo

The effect held even on issues people knew nothing about. Saying John has a view on abortion doesn’t tell you if he’s pro-life or -choice. So we made up an issue (“Prop DW”). Party had/no stance. That alone made it feel identity-relevant, pushing ppl to more extreme candidates.

Mohamed A. Hussein

9mo

Across six studies, we find that as people’s opinions on political issues become more part of their identity, they are drawn to extreme (vs. moderate) candidates.

Mohamed A. Hussein

9mo

🚨Excited to announce the full-day Moral Psychology pre-conference at #SPSP2026! We sold out last year, and with this year’s incredible speaker lineup, we expect the same. Submit your poster or data blitz abstract by Oct. 23! spsp.wufoo.com/forms/2026-p... There’s a best poster award!

Mohamed A. Hussein

8mo

Mohamed A. Hussein

Diego Reinero, Ph.D.