Department of Political Science

Political Science
1414 Social Sciences Building
267 19th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: 612-624-4144
Fax: 612-626-7599
E-mail: polisci@umn.edu

Chair: Raymond D. Duvall

Christopher Federico

Curriculum Vitae

Department Affiliations

Narrative

As a researcher and theorist, my interests fall primarily within the domain of political psychology. More precisely, I am interested in how a number of factors — namely, people’s values and beliefs, the structural characteristics of their social environments, and their ability and willingness to use political information — interact to shape perceptions of the political world and attitudes toward objects in it. Currently, my research is centered on three specific topics: (1) the organization of whites' racial attitudes, with a particular focus on the role of educational attainment; (2) the cognitive and motivational antecedents of attitude and belief-system structure; and (3) the interface between epistemic motivations, group identity, and conflict-related attitudes and behaviors.


Specialties

  • political psychology
  • ideology and belief systems
  • race and politics
  • political knowledge
  • quantitative methods in the social sciences

Educational Background

  • Ph.D.: University of California, Los Angeles, 2001.
  • M.A.: University of California, Los Angeles, 1996.
  • B.A.: University of California, Berkeley, 1995.

Publications

  • Federico, C. M. (2004a). When do welfare attitudes become racialized? The paradoxical effects of education. American Journal of Political Science, 48, 374-391.
  • Federico, C. M. (2004b). Predicting Attitude Extremity: The Interactive Effects of Schema Development and the Need to Evaluate – and Their Mediation by Evaluative Integration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1281-1294.
  • Federico, C. M., Golec, A., & Dial, J. (2005). The Relationship Between Need for Closure and Support for Military Action Against Iraq: Moderating Effects of National Attachment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 621-632.
  • Federico, C. M. (2006a). Race, education, and individualism revisited. Journal of Politics, 68, 600-610.
  • Federico, C. M. (2006b). Ideology and the affective structure of whites’ racial perceptions. Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 327-353.
  • Federico, C. M. (2007). Expertise, evaluative motivation, and the structure of citizens’ ideological commitments. Political Psychology, 28, 535-562.
  • Federico, C. M., & Schneider, M. (2007). Political expertise and the use of ideology: Moderating effects of evaluative motivation. Public Opinion Quarterly, 71, 221-252.
  • Jost, J. T., Federico, C. M., & Napier, J. L. (2009). Political ideology: its structure, functions, and elective affinities. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 307-338.
  • Borgida, E., Federico, C. M., & Sullivan, J. L., eds. (2009). The political psychology of democratic citizenship. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Goren, P., Federico, C. M., & Kittilson, M. C. (in press). Source cues, partisan identities, and value positions. American Journal of Political Science.

Awards

  • Erik H. Erikson Award for Distinguished Early Career Contribution to Political Psychology, 2007
  • Roberta Sigel Award for Best Paper by a junior Scholar, International Society of Political Psychology, 2007

Courses Taught

  • PolSci 4771 - Racial Attitudes and Intergroup Relations
  • PolSci 8123 - Quantitative Methods in Political Research
  • Psy 8204 - The Social Psychology of Prejudice and Intergroup Relations
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