Speaker：Paul Schuler [Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Arizona]

Date：July 11, 2024／15:00‐17:00 (JST)

Location：Room 104, Conference Room 2, 1F, Institute of Social Science, Hongo Campus, the University of Tokyo
　　　　　https://www.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/guide/

Language：English

Target : Open to the public

Moderator：Masaaki Higashijima（UTokyo)

Abstract：Why do regimes and parties often promote individuals to represent or "personify" them? In the context of political parties and regimes, why do they frequently promote personality cults as branding tools? While historians suggest that personality cults have unique legitimating powers, political science downplays the legitimating role of cults. We theorize that symbolic leaders serve a specific psychological purpose. In particular, they "anthropomorphize" groups, thereby increasing loyalty and emotional connection to those groups. To test this logic, we use a unique lab experiment to test the impact of the human face in generating heightened 1) attachment to a group and 2) in-group favoritism. To do so, we adapt the widely used "minimal groups" experimental paradigm to test a "minimal face" model of group identification. While preliminary results do not show an effect on resources distribution, they do show that personifying groups increases the cohesion of the group. In this paper, we discuss the implications of these findings for future research on personality cults.