Neumiller Lecture Hall was full Tuesday as students, faculty and members of the Peoria community gathered to gain insight into how individuals adopt their political orientations.
John Jost, a professor of psychology and politics and the co-director of the Center for Social and Political Behavior at New York University, presented a timely lecture about what drives individuals to develop their political tendencies.
“Our belief systems serve psychological functions,” Jost said. “We’re not merely passive recipients of whatever we happen to be exposed to. We’re drawn to certain kinds of beliefs and ideas that match or resonate with our own personal beliefs and interests.”
Bradley religious studies professor Robert Fuller, with the support of the Intellectual and Cultural Activities Committee at Bradley, said he was not only determined to bring Jost to Bradley, but to bring him to Bradley during this election year.
“We’re aware of our political differences in a way we might not have [been] a year ago,” Fuller said. “Political elections don’t cause differences, but [elections] lift them to the surface. This was a good year to get some awareness of our political differences.”
Following the lecture, Jost took questions from the audience. A member of the Peoria community asked why the second amendment, which protects the right to bear arms, has become a dividing issue in the current election cycle.
Referencing the lecture, Jost explained the divide stems from differences in how individual Americans perceive “threats” related to the issue.
“Psychologically speaking, I do think that some of the ideological differences are subject to the perception of threat and could account for some of the ideological differences,” Jost said.
Students who attended said they enjoyed gaining a new understanding of the origins of their political ideologies.
“In addition to Bradley being able to bring in the foremost expert on moral political psychology, it was intellectually stimulating for me to begin to psychologically understand how and why my political beliefs have formed the way they have,” Gerry Regep, a sophomore political science and philosophy double major, said.
Jost is the son of Bradley English professor Jean Jost, who also attended the lecture.
“I thought, ‘Wow, he is managing to give a serious lecture, with hard data, while interspersing it with lighthearted jokes,’” Jean said. “His smile and his moving along the front of the stage without notes impressed me … But, in my heart of hearts, I could not deny that my firstborn had just performed a delightful and informative production, which not only I, but the audience in general, seemed to appreciate.”
