Research

Jung, Seyoung, and Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz. 2022. "Implicit and Explicit State Attachment among Single and Dual American citizens." Politics, Groups, and Identities 10:2, 295-314 10.1080/21565503.2020.1789884

With increasing levels of globalization and changing patterns of migration, there is a growing interest in the nature of citizenship. Dual citizenship is of particular interest because it is a category that connotes symmetrical ties between an individual and two states, but few studies have examined state attachment among dual citizens. We address this question by comparing American dual citizens’ attitudes and behaviors toward the US in two ways: by comparing US single and dual citizens and by comparing dual citizens’ attitudes and behaviors regarding their two countries of citizenship. Comparisons are made using both self-report measures and implicit measures. By using the implicit association test (IAT), we capture implicit self-state associations while largely circumventing the issue of social desirability. Results indicate that single citizens are more attached to the US compared to dual citizens. Dual citizens showed symmetrical attachment toward their two countries of citizenship, but participated more in US politics than in their other country. The findings provide a better understanding of the attitudes and behaviors of dual citizens and suggest new directions for research on the relationship between individuals and the state.

Jung, Seyoung. 2022. “Study of Oxytocin in Biopolitics.” In Biopolitics at 50 Years: Founding and Evolution, edited by T. Wohlers and A. Fletcher, Emerald Group Publishing.

In recent decades, oxytocin (OT) has been extensively studied across disci- plines. Yet, the role of OT has been discussed little in the context of politics. This chapter proposes that studying the role of this hormone can enrich and advance the study of politics. The chapter reviews the previous !ndings on OT categorized into two sections: one that focuses on the biological mechanisms and therapeutic potentials and another that focuses on the effects on social behaviors. This review is not exhaustive but is intended to bring political sci- entists up to date with the progress in OT studies. Next, this chapter highlights that studying the role of OT in political context will bene!t both the OT and political science literature, since there is currently a great interest in the context-dependent nature of OT. I highlight several research questions that can be answered at this intersection. Rather than waiting for other disciplines to complete unfolding the precise role of OT, students of biopolitics can make important contributions. Political science can further understand the biological underpinnings of concern for others and partisan behaviors, while OT applied to real-world settings would demonstrate how different contexts shape its effects.

Ksiazkiewicz, Aleksander and Seyoung Jung. 2020. “Biology and Decision Making.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, edited by D.P. Redlawsk, Oxford University Press.

The study of biology and politics is rapidly moving from being an isolated curiosity to be­ ing an integral part of the theories that political scientists propose. The necessity of adopting this interdisciplinary research philosophy will be increasingly apparent as politi­ cal scientists seek to understand the precise mechanisms by which political decisions are made. To demonstrate this potential, scholars of biopolitics have addressed common mis­ conceptions about biopolitics research (i.e., the nature-nurture dichotomy and biological determinism) and used different methods to shed light on political decision making since the turn of the 21st century—including methods drawn from evolutionary psychology, ge­ nomics, neuroscience, psychophysiology, and endocrinology. The field has already come far in its understanding of the biology of political decision making, and several key find­ ings have emerged in biopolitical studies of political belief systems, attitudes, and behav­ iors. This area of research sheds light on the proximate and ultimate causes of political cognition and elucidates some of the ways in which human biology shapes both the hu­ man universals that make politics possible and the human diversity that provides it with such dynamism. Furthermore, three emerging areas of biopolitics research that antici­ pate the promise of a biologically informed political science are research into gene-envi­ ronment interplay, research into the political causes and consequences of variation in hu­ man microbiomes, and research that integrates chronobiology—the study of the biologi­ cal rhythms that regulate many aspects of life, including sleep—into the study of political decision making.

Jung, Seyoung, Cara Wong, and Younghyun Lee. "The Effects of Socialization and Citizenship on Political Participation." 

While we witness historic changes taking place in the conception and practice of citizenship, we do not know much about the political consequences it may bring.  What are the effects of citizenship, as a status and a process, on political participation?  We employ dual citizens to gain leverage in addressing this question.  Relying on data from a nationally representative sample of more than 60,000 Americans, we compare born-dual citizens with both naturalized-dual citizens and born-mono citizens to distinguish the potential effects of socialization and legal status.  Results indicate that among dual citizens, those who are born in the U.S. tend to participate more in politics than immigrants who naturalized.  Among American-born citizens, levels of political engagement of dual and mono citizens vary by type of political activity.  The study also presents the first look at dual citizens in the U.S., while contributing to theoretical developments about citizenship status.

Jung, Seyoung. "Partisan Conformity and Political Intolerance." 

As partisan prejudice increases, citizens show discriminating intolerance, opposing the rights of groups on the opposite side. Paying attention to partisan dynamics, this project examines how partisan identity and conformity shape political intolerance. I test whether a request for partisan conformity increases their willingness to act on political intolerance, using a vignette experiment where co-partisans ask to sign a petition to ban the protest of the least-liked group. Furthermore, I investigate which mechanism underlies this conformity, particularly comparing the narratives involving ingroup praise or outgroup derogation. Results indicate that co-partisans can influence other co-partisans to behave in a politically intolerant manner. While both types of narratives induced partisan conformity, more respondents opted for displaying their names in limiting others’ civil activities when a narrative blaming the outgroup was given as a reason for solidarity. The findings contribute to our understanding of attitudinal and behavioral changes when political intolerance meets polarization.

Jung, Seyoung. "Spillover of Arguing for a Rally." 

The rise of protest politics reflects the current politics' divisive and contentious state. At the same time, this rise in political activism may reinforce citizens’ understanding of protests as a meaningful political instrument and resource. This study examines whether this perspective on protests influences the level of political tolerance. Using a survey experiment, I test whether the experience of arguing for the rally of their most-liked group increases the willingness to allow the rally of their least-liked group. Results indicate that political activism can increase the willingness to permit the extension of rights of citizenship to the group they feel neither favorable nor unfavorable, but does not increase such willingness to the group they like the least. The limitation in the spillover of political activism on political tolerance highlights the challenges of overcoming deep-seated negativity in political tolerance.

Jung, Seyoung. "The Effects of Denying a Rally Permit on Mayoral Approval and Political Tolerance." 

The tension between the value of civil liberties and the value of public order has recently become more salient. At this intersection, studies on political tolerance explore under which conditions citizens support the extension of rights of citizenship to others whose ideas or interests they oppose. Yet, few have incorporated the dynamics that politicians shape the way citizens arrive at their political tolerance decision. This paper pays attention to a politician’s decision over a rally permit and studies its effect on citizens’ attitudes toward the politician and the group involved in the rally. Furthermore, this paper makes the connection between accountability and political tolerance literature and brings a performance-oriented perspective to the study of political tolerance. In particular, I disentangle citizens’ sociotropic and egocentric considerations as they respond to the consequences of the mayor’s decision. The findings from a factorial experiment show that the mayor’s decision to deny the rally has a negative impact on mayoral approval but no impact on political tolerance. I also find some evidence that the consequences of the mayor’s decision influence the level of mayoral approval and political tolerance. These findings have theoretical and empirical implications for understanding the relationship between citizens, their disliked group, and their politicians, especially in this era of polarization.

Dynamics of migration and increasing cases of international marriages are transforming the conceptualization and practice of citizenship. While dual citizenship, in theory, permits simultaneous involvement in two countries, barriers to achieving symmetrical political involvement exist. This study specifically investigates individuals holding both US and Canadian citizenship, examining their political engagement in a cross-border context. The original survey data captures various dimensions of citizenship within this population, including aspects such as citizenship as socialization, citizenship as an identity claim, and citizenship as political participation. The findings reveal the extent of ‘ambidextrous’ political engagement among dual citizens. Furthermore, the study explores whether political participation is activated during the salient and critical elections and whether it persists once activated. The study identifies the potential for a positive-sum approach to political engagement and offers insights into what to expect in a globalizing world where an increasing number of citizens are forming multiple ties with more than one country and exercising their rights as citizens.

While citizenship connotes a legal tie between a self and a state, there is a variation in how closely one aligns the state to one’s self-concept. This study develops a Canadian identity implicit association test (CI-IAT) that measures the state attachment at the subconscious level. This psychological construct reflects the use of a different memory system and circumvents the issue of social desirability. The study explores whether this internalization of the state within the self varies systematically by different facets of citizenship (i.e. birthplace, immigrant background, country of residence, race/ethnicity, and language). Furthermore, the study shows the relationship between the level of Canadian identity and how individuals see themselves and others as deserving the full inventory of citizenship entitlements. The empirical evidence of the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how individuals perceive themselves as part of the political community and the basis of their policy preferences.