The Hot Politics Lab

The Hot Politics Lab is looking for one postdoc and two PhDs. They will work for POLEMIC, a new project on emotions in politics. We will analyze the use of emotion by politicians, and the effects of political communication on emotion. It has strong links with my work on political strategy and personality. For this project we will use innovative methods such as automated text analysis and physiological measures such as heartbeat, skin conductance and facial electromyopgraphy. POLEMIC is financed by an ERC Starting Grant obtained by Gijs Schumacher

Here you can find a description of this project.

I am hiring a postdoc and two PhDs for this project.

PhD1 will analyze the emotional communication of politicians, and analyze when emotion is used. The job ad is here.

PhD2 will analyze the effects of emotional political communication on citizens. The job ad is here.

The postdoc will also analyze the effects of emotional political communication on citizens and will be involved in the supervision of the PhD students. The job ad is here.

The deadline for applications is April 30th.

Do you want to work in a great city, on an interdisciplinary project that touches on political science, psychology, communication science and computer science? If so, please click the links above. If you have questions please contact g.schumacher [at] uva.nl.

The Hot Politics Lab members will present 6 papers at the Midwest Political Science Assocation Conference in Chicagi (April 5-8). [We will update links to papers and slides in the next days]

1. Experimental Evidence of Loss Aversion Among Swedish Politicians (Gijs Schumacher and Patrik Ohberg). The paper shows that Swedish politicians desire more change in the party’s ideology and strategy when the polls indicate that their party is losing. You can view the paper here and find the slides here. Presentation: April 5, 8.00-9.30.

2. Ideological Differences in the Negativity Bias? Evidence from four replication studies across two political contexts (Kevin Arceneaux, Bert Bakker and Gijs Schumacher). This paper evaluates the link between the negativity bias and ideology. You can view the paper here. Presentation: April 5, 15:00-16:30.

3. Hot Politics. Physiological Responses to Political Communication (Bert Bakker and Matthijs Rooduijn). This paper analyzes physiological responsiveness to different political messages about immigration, EU, climate and inequality. Click here for the slides. Presentation: April 6, 11:30-13.00.

4. Explaining Personalization in Politics. Is it strategy, fashionable or personality driven? (Gijs Schumacher & Sander Kunst). The paper analyzes personalization by politicians in Danish and Dutch party congress speeches. Our main conclusion is that personalization is more of personal preference, rather than a time trend.  You can view the paper here. Presentation: April 7, 11:30-13.00.

5. Liberals Lecture, Conservatives Communicate. A cross-national, cross-temporal analysis of linguistic complexity and ideology in 381475 speeches by EU politicians (Martijn Schoonvelde, Gijs Schumacher, Bert Bakker and Anna Brosius). The paper shows that progressive politicians (liberals) use more complex rhetoric than conservative politicians, across time and countries. You can view the paper here. Presentation: April 8, 11:30-13.00.

6. An Expressive Utility Account of Partisan Cue Receptivity:  Cognitive Resources in the Service of Identity Expression (Ari Malka, Yph Lelkes and Bert Bakker).