Zlatan Krizan, associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University, will present “Wishful Thinking in Political Elections” on Friday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. in 201 Riley Hall at Linfield College.
Krizan, an expert in the areas of human emotion and motivation, will discuss his research on electoral expectations and their psychological and behavioral consequences. His work reveals that voters’ expectations of election outcomes are unduly optimistic, and that this optimism stems from wishes that people have about political candidates and issues. He will also discuss how electoral expectations play a unique role in voter behavior and post-election disappointment. He will conclude by explaining the implications of understanding voter behavior, political campaigns and testing psychological theory in real-world contexts.
Krizan directs the Self and Social Perception Laboratory at Iowa State University. He researches basic motivational, emotional and personality processes, with a particular focus on people’s judgments of themselves, their futures and their social world. Born in Rijeka, Croatia, he completed his doctoral work in personality and social psychology at the University of Iowa in 2007. Krizan has written numerous scientific publications, earned both research and teaching awards, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Journal of Research in Personality.
This lecture is free and open to the public, and sponsored by the Department of Psychology, the Office of Academic Affairs, and PLACE, the Program for Liberal Arts and Civic Engagement. For more information, contact Yanna Weisberg, assistant professor of psychology, 503-883-2724, yweisber@linfield.edu.
