Research Symposium

BIO

Martha is from Anchorage, Alaska and plans on continuing person-perception research in graduate school.

Intellectual Humility in Political Leaders: A Person-Perception Approach

Abstract

Recent work suggests that people high in intellectual humility are more open to learning about opposing viewpoints (Porter & Schumann, 2018), have less polarized feelings towards political rivals (Krumrei-Mancuso & Newman, 2020), and may be less interested in derogating a political opponent (Stanley et al., 2020). In a world where individuals often fail to reconsider their beliefs after exposure to new evidence (Nyhan & Reifler, 2010), embracing intellectual humility has been touted as a potential key to improving relationships among people with different perspectives. Yet, in the sociopolitical sphere, an intellectually humble person is only as valuable as the people around them perceive them to be. Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on how individuals perceive those high in intellectual humility. This study aims to clarify claims made about intellectual humility (IH) by a) examining to what extent perceivers value IH in the face of a polarizing topic (abortion), and b) to assess if people are as attracted to IH expressed by political leaders as they are in their peers (Huynh & Romero Gonzalez, 2023).
Understanding how people perceive others high in IH could be the first step in motivating others to adopt intellectually humble characteristics themselves.

Keywords: psychology, humility, political leaders