Social Psychology in the Information Age: Possible link to bullying and voting patterns in the US

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Possible link to bullying and voting patterns in the US

A recent study found evidence that there was an association between voting patterns and bullying. The research took survey data and examined patterns of bullying in areas that voted more in favor of Trump and those voting more in favor of Clinton during the last Presidential election. There appears to be a positive correlation between pro-Trump voting patterns and higher rates of bullying. Obviously the study has some limitations (self-report, correlational, examines patterns in only one state), but it does seem like something to look at further. National leaders are for better or sometimes worse role models, as are the people in children's lives who support various national leaders. We may be seeing some form of social learning in action - at least tentatively I feel comfortable with that conclusion for now.

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About

Hi! I am A. James Benjamin, Jr., PhD. Most folks call me James or JB eventually.

I am an educator trained as a social psychologist. I work as an Associate Professor at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. I earned my PhD from University of Missouri-Columbia in 2000. Much of my research has touched on cognitive and behavioral effects of aggression-related cues (e.g., video games and weapon images), increasingly from a critical and skeptical perspective. I have also examined person variables such as authoritarianism and short-term media exposure in relation to attitudes toward violence and toward torture. My more recent interests involve the psychometric properties of various measures of aggressive cognition that are commonly used by aggression researchers. My work intersects with that of related researchers in areas such as Media Communication.

As an educator, I primarily teach methodology courses and the undergraduate survey course in social psychology. I also regularly teach the introductory psychology course. I make a point of introducing students at all levels to the replication crisis. Increasingly, I am trying interactive activities to engage students to become more critical readers of the research literature in my field.

I use this blog to express my own professional and personal perspectives. This blog is completely independent of any organizations with which I am affiliated. Assume that the views I express here are exclusively mine and do not reflect the views of any employer.