Thesis

Uncertainty, Populist Deprivation Rhetoric, and Extremism

Research Interests

My work is focused on leadership and political polarization. I am interested in how intergroup relations affect group norms, identity and political extremism. Additionally, I am invested in social justice, and am committed to integrating an understanding of social identity, self categorization, and intergroup behavior to support a lasting shift towards a more just world.

Recent Work

Conso, M.C., Souter, S.S., & Gaffney, A.M. (2022, February). Uncertainty, populist deprivation rhetoric and extremism. Poster session presented at the annual conference of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, California.

Conso, M. C., McDowell, J., Ross, J., Hackett, J.D., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Black Lives Matter: Leader attitudes, relative deprivation, and political polarization. Poster session presented at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, California.

McDowell, J., Obiekezie, C., Martin, A., Burg, Z., Conso, M.C., Crocker, J., Belt, G., Hackett, J. D., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Self-uncertainty and cultural appropriation. Poster session presented at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, California.

Kincaid, K., Ma, A., Conso, M.C., Rast III, D.E., Gaffney, A.M., & Abrams, D. (2020). That’s My Autocrat: Concern for COVID-19 inoculates autocratic ingroup leaders. Poster session presented at European Association for Social Psychology, Hypothesis Registered in OSF.

Souter, S.S., Conso, M.C., Periello, L.M., Griffith, Z.M., Rast III, D.E., & Gaffney, A.M. (2020). Implicit Bias, conservatism, and low support for Black Lives Matter Amongst Republicans. Poster presentation at Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sherburne, B., Conso, M., Sarai, E. C., Hackett, J. D., & Gaffney, A. M. (2019, February). When Might People Give up Political Voice? Poster session to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Portland, OR.