The general long term objectives of the research program are to study how the need for cognitive closure affects major aspects of group process in ways reflecting the evolution of a conservative attitude among the group members. More specifically, the following issues of interest will be investigated: I. Whether group members' need for closure affects the preferred type of leadership and decision-making rules. II. Whether group members' need for closure affects the status-allocation processes within the group. III. Whether group members' need for closure affects how it deals with change (in specific reference to membership-shifts and variation in group- tasks). IV. Whether group members' need for closure affects intra-group relations, in particular those between a minority and the-majority. V. Whether group members' need for closure affects inter-group relations, in particular those with outgroup vs. ingroup members. All the above issues bear on major ways in which individuals function in groups. Understanding those matters may have important health consequences both in terms of improving individuals' adjustment to groups, their ability to optimally function in groups and the ability of groups to optimally contribute to individuals' welfare. Altogether fifteen studies are proposed designed to allow convergent validation of the central theoretical notions through multiple operationalizations of the need for closure.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH052578-03
Application #
2445542
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (SRCM (03))
Project Start
1995-07-01
Project End
2000-06-30
Budget Start
1997-08-01
Budget End
1998-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1997
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland College Park
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
College Park
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20742
Pierro, Antonio; Mannetti, Lucia; De Grada, Eraldo et al. (2003) Autocracy bias in informal groups under need for closure. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 29:405-17
Jost, John T; Glaser, Jack; Kruglanski, Arie W et al. (2003) Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychol Bull 129:339-75
Kruglanski, Arie W; Shah, James Y; Pierro, Antonio et al. (2002) When similarity breeds content: need for closure and the allure of homogeneous and self-resembling groups. J Pers Soc Psychol 83:648-62
Chun, Woo Young; Spiegel, Scott; Kruglanski, Arie W (2002) Assimilative behavior identification can also be resource dependent: the unimodel perspective on personal-attribution phases. J Pers Soc Psychol 83:542-55
Kruglanski, A W; Thompson, E P; Higgins, E T et al. (2000) To ""do the right thing"" or to ""just do it"": locomotion and assessment as distinct self-regulatory imperatives. J Pers Soc Psychol 79:793-815
Shah, J Y; Kruglanski, A W; Thompson, E P (1998) Membership has its (epistemic) rewards: need for closure effects on in-group bias. J Pers Soc Psychol 75:383-93
Kruglanski, A W; Atash, M N; DeGrada, E et al. (1997) Psychological theory testing versus psychometric nay-saying: comment on Neuberg et al.'s (1997) critique of the need for closure scale. J Pers Soc Psychol 73:1005-16; discussion 1017-29
Kruglanski, A W; Webster, D M (1996) Motivated closing of the mind: ""seizing"" and ""freezing"". Psychol Rev 103:263-83