Publication Date

Summer 2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Christine Ma-Kellams; Arlene Asuncion; Gregory Feist

Abstract

In their review of research on factors that affect political conservatism, Jost et al. brought together research from several theoretical viewpoints. This produced a model of psychological needs and motives in individuals which react with stimuli that make them feel fearful and threatened (F/T), increasing adherence to conservative ideology. While some research supports these claims, evidence shows that in some contexts these variables increase ideological polarization overall, but may also have a greater impact on conservative attitudes specifically. Researchers have had difficulty in investigating these relationships in naturalistic settings due to an inability to manipulate events that precipitate this ideological change, but Big Data is providing researchers new opportunities to study this phenomenon. The present study utilized Google Trends data to examine if F/T events influence politically ideological searches in an effort to capture ideological shifts found in research to provide evidence for two competing theories. The relationships between GT searches, political ideology, and F/T events were explored to determine if there is support for using GT data to capture ideological shifts, looking for evidence that there is either conservative or general ideological polarization in response to F/T events. Examining the data did not show any consistent shifts found for the GT data after F/T events, providing support for neither theory. The limitations of this research are discussed as well as directions for future studies.

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