No dia 9 de Abril, Mariana C. Biermann será a oradora convidada de um Seminário do Grupo de Investigação SPARC, com o tema Political Ideology as Historically Situated Motivated Social Cognition: Understanding Right-Wing Conservatism in Brazil. A partir das 14h30, na Sala 1 do ICS-ULisboa e online.

Abstract: Drawing on the framework of motivated social cognition, we tested a comprehensive mediational model in which epistemic, existential, and relational motives shape ideological preferences through three key socio-psychological processes: right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and general system justification. In this talk, I discuss the findings from a multi-institutional research project examining the psychological and historical foundations of right-wing conservatism in Brazil. Using data from an online survey of Brazilian adults conducted in August 2022, the results indicate that these processes significantly mediated the association between motivational dispositions and left–right ideological orientation. The study also incorporated macro-historical indicators of structural enslavement and White privilege dating back to the 19th century, which moderated several of the mediational pathways. These findings demonstrate that historical structures of domination shape how psychological motives translate into ideological preferences, suggesting that contemporary right-wing conservatism in Brazil cannot be understood solely as an individual psychological phenomenon, but rather as a deeply embedded, geopolitical, and historical structure.

Short Bio: Mariana C. Biermann is a former Research Affiliate at the Social Psychology Program at New York University and holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Fortaleza in Brazil. Her doctoral research focused on the underlying mechanisms and the influence of ideological differences on the legitimation process of gender inequality across Brazil and the United States. With experience teaching courses in neuroscience, social psychology, and psychometrics, she currently holds a researcher position at the Industry Observatory in Brazil. In this role, she has collaborated on projects addressing strategic planning and foresight, social and economic development, and social innovation. She was part of the multi-institutional team behind the research presented at the seminar.