Linda J. Skitka

Institution University of Illinois at Chicago Current Position Professor of Psychology Highest Degree Ph.D. in Social Psychology from University of California, Berkeley, 1989 Research Interests Attitudes Attribution Emotion Ethics/Morality Helping/Pro-Social Behavior Interpersonal Processes Judgment/Decision Making Personality Political Psychology Self/Identity Social Cognition Courses Taught Advanced Statistics Computing in Psychology Psychological Perspectives on Justice Research Design and Analysis I (Advanced ANOVA) Research Design and Analysis II (Multivariate Statistics) Social Psychological Research Methods Social Psychology   Linda J. Skitka Department of Psychology (M/C 285) University of Illinois at Chicago 1007 West Harrison Street Chicago, Illinois 60607-7137 U.S.A. Home Page Phone: (312) 996-4464 Fax: (312) 413-4122 Professor Skitka is interested in the role of moral conviction in how people think about political issues and justice, as well as exploring how people's moral convictions differ from other kinds of strong attitudes; the cognitive (attributional) and motivational foundations of ideological disagreements and political psychology more generally; and questions relating to distributive and procedural justice. Her research program is broadly devoted to investigating how people make various kinds of difficult decisions, what leads people to take a stand in the name of their beliefs, and the consequences of doing so. For example, how do people decide whether something is just or unjust -- on the basis of decision making procedures or the outcomes those decisions yield? Are moral convictions different in antecedents and consequences from other kinds of strong attitudes, and if so how? Are people with strong moral convictions less likely to pay attention to procedural safeguards (e.g., the law) designed to protect civil society when they are in pursuit of morally mandated ends? What is the decision making calculus underlying how people decide whether to support various social policies, such as spending on the poor, and why do political liberals and political conservatives see these issues in fundamentally different ways? When can you get a liberal to behave like a conservative and vice versa? Professor Skitka also has an interest in research methods, and is about equally committed to testing hypotheses using laboratory based experimental methods, and national field surveys (typically with embedded experiments) in an effort to find multi-method convergence in support of hypotheses. She has written a number of papers about using the Internet to support social psychological research. Journal Articles: Bauman, C. W., & Skitka, L. J. (2009). Moral disagreement and procedural justice: Moral mandates as constraints to voice effects. Australian Journal of Psychology, 61, 40-49. Mullen, E., & Skitka, L. J. (2006). Exploring the psychological underpinnings of the moral mandate effect: Motivated reasoning, group differentiation, or anger? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 629-643. Skitka, L. J. (2009). Exploring the “lost and found” of justice theory and research. Social Justice Research, 22, 98-116. Skitka, L. J. (2006). Patriotism or nationalism? Understanding post-September 11, 2001 flag display behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1995-2011. Skitka, L. J., & Bauman, C. W. (2008). Moral conviction and political engagement. Political Psychology, 29, 29-54. Skitka, L. J., Bauman, C. W., & Lytle, B. L. (in press). Limits on legitimacy: Moral and religious convictions as constraints on deference to authority. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Skitka, L. J., Bauman, C. W., & Sargis, E. G. (2005). Moral conviction: Another contributor to attitude strength or something more? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 895-917. Skitka, L. J., & Mullen, E. (2008). Moral convictions often override concerns about procedural fairness: A reply to Napier and Tyler. Social Justice Research, 21 529-546. Skitka, L. J., Mullen, E., Griffin, T., Hutchinson, S., & Chamberlin, B. (2002). Dispositions, ideological scripts, or motivated correction? Understanding ideological differences in attributions for social problems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 470-487. Wisneski, D. C., Lytle, B. L., & Skitka, L. J. (in press). Gut reactions: Moral conviction, religiosity, and trust in authority. Psychological Science. Other Publications: Bauman, C. W., & Skitka, L. J. (2009). In the mind of the perceiver: Psychological implications of moral conviction. In D. Bartels, C. W. Bauman, L. J. Skitka, & D. Medin (Eds.), Moral judgment and decision making. Psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 50, pp. 341-364). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Skitka, L. J., Bauman, C. W., & Lytle, B. L. (2008). Morality as a foundation of leadership and a constraint on deference to authority. In D. Forsyth & C. Hoyt (Eds.), Social psychology and leadership (pp. 300-315). Westport, CN: Praeger Press. Skitka, L. J., Bauman, C. W., & Mullen, E. (2008). Morality and justice: An expanded theoretical perspective and review. In K. A. Hedgvedt & J. Clay-Warner (Eds.), Advances in group processes (Vol. 25, pp. 1-27). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Skitka, L. J., & Morgan, G. S. (in press). The double-edged sword of a moral state of mind. In D. Narvaez & D. K. Lapsley (Eds.), Moral self, identity, and character: Prospects for new field of study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Skitka, L. J., & Sargis, E. G. (2006). The Internet as psychological laboratory. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 529-555.

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