Jim Sidanius

John T. Jost

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Key Readings

Political Psychology

A leading psychologist explains why nearly all of us—including many of those who are persecuted and powerless—so often defend the social systems that cause misery and injustice. Why do we so often defend the very social systems that are responsible for injustice and exploitation? In A Theory of System Justification, John Jost argues that we are motivated to defend the status quo because doing so serves fundamental psychological needs for certainty, security, and social acceptance. We want to feel good not only about ourselves and the groups to which we belong, but also about the overarching social structure in which we live, even when it hurts others and ourselves. Jost lays out the wide range of evidence for his groundbreaking theory and examines its implications for our communities and our democracy. Drawing on twenty-five years of research, he provides an accessible account of system justification theory and its insights. System justification helps to explain deep contradictions, including the feeling among some women that they don’t deserve the same salaries as men and the tendency of some poor people to vote for policies that increase economic inequality. The theory illuminates the most pressing social and political issues of our time—why has it been so hard to combat anthropogenic climate change?—as well as some of the most intimate—why do some black children prefer white dolls to black ones and why do some people stay in bad relationships? Jost’s theory has far-reaching implications, and he offers numerous insights that political activists and social justice advocates can use to promote change.

A Theory of System Justification

Gabriel Ignatow

Metaphors of Life and Death in Silicon Valley

"Idea Hamsters" on the "bleeding Edge"

A psychological approach to the study of political ideology -- The end of the end of ideology -- Elective affinities : the intersection of "top-down" and "bottom-up" processes -- Political conservatism as motivated social cognition -- The secret lives of liberals and conservatives : dispositional and situational factors -- Authoritarian aggression, group-based dominance, and the liberal conundrum -- Ideological asymmetries and the essence of political psychology -- The promise and pitfalls of political neuroscience -- Epilogue: The values of a political psychologist.

The Psychological Significance of a Political Distinction

Left and Right

The articles in this volume have been carefully chosen to illustrate the way the field has developed historically as well as current issues and research directions.

Psychologist John Jost has spent decades researching poor people who vote for policies of inequality and women who think men deserve higher salaries. He argues that the persecuted often justify and defend the very social systems that oppress them because doing so serves a fundamental need for certainty, security, and social acceptance.

John T. Jost

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