By all means necessary: Closed mindedness, ingroup morality, and weapon ownership. (27th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Di Santo, Daniela; Pierro, Antonio; Ellenberg, Molly; Baldner, Conrad; Kruglanski, Arie W.
• Is Part Of: European journal of social psychology. Volume 52:Number 5/6(2022)
• Page Start: 881
• Page End: 894
• Publication Date: 2022-09-27
• Subjects: immigration -- moral foundations -- need for closure -- threat -- weapons; Social psychology -- Periodicals; 302
• DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2857
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0046-2772

Abstract

Abstract: This research investigated the motivational underpinnings of attitudes towards weapon ownership. We propose that people who have a strong need for closure (NFC) would be more likely to approve of weapon ownership, but that this relationship would be serially mediated by the endorsement of binding moral foundations and fear of immigrants. Specifically, heightened NFC would promote moral concerns for the safety of one's group (i.e., the binding foundations), which, in turn, would trigger fear of immigrants, or the belief that immigrants threaten one's society. In turn, fear of immigrants would generate the approval of defensive means (i.e., weapons). We tested this serial mediation model in three studies with Italian and US samples, where NFC was both measured (Studies 1 and 3; N = 286 and N = 278) and experimentally induced (Study 2; N = 290). The results supported the proposed model. These findings suggest that a high NFC might explain individuals' approval of weapon ownership through their moral priorities, which heighten their prejudice towards immigrants.