Kaat Smets
Biographic Data
| ID | 3717606 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kaat Smets |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kaat |
| FAMILY NAME | Smets |
| SIGNATURE | SMETS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Royal Holloway University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4013-6255 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 726 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Mind over bias: How is cognitive control related to politically motivated reasoning
People often favour information aligned with their ideological motives. Can our tendency for directional motivated reasoning be overcome with cognitive control? It remains contested whether cognitive control processes, such as cognitive reflection and inhibitory control, are linked to a greater tendency to engage in politically motivated reasoning, as proposed by the "motivated reflection" hypothesis, or can help people overcome it, as suggested …
Competing or complementary? Local and national competitiveness as explanatory factors of turnout in SMP systems
Rooted in the rational choice theory, high stake elections are considered to attract more voters than elections where the outcome is a foregone conclusion. In single member plurality systems, local and national competitiveness are both thought to be part of a voter’s consideration when deciding whether or not to turn out to vote. However, we know little about how these two levels of competitiveness interact. This article aims to shed light on the…
Adult belief change: New theoretical and empirical perspectives. Special issue introduction
Belief change in later life is understudied as it goes against the well‐established idea that political attitudes are formed early on in life and remain mostly stable thereafter. Recently, some studies have emerged that address adult belief change. However, these studies are mostly descriptive and offer relatively little insight into how, for whom, and under which conditions adult belief change takes place. This special issue on adult belief chan…
How Group Appeals Shape Group-Party Linkages in Two Political Systems
To attract voters, politicians can appeal to their interests and attitudes through policies. They can also appeal to their identities by supplying candidates that belong to their social group or by sending messages that directly target the group. While there is an advanced literature on the role of policy appeals, much less is known about the effects of other appeals, whether social or group-based, or how they work. We conduct a conjoint experime…
Ballot Box Battles: Sex, Ethnicity and the Electoral Performance of UK Candidates
A new normal? The EP elections 2024 amidst old and new challenges. Special issue introduction
The special issue addresses whether recent electoral dynamics characterised by high levels of disengagement, a more polarized conflict, and the establishment of challenger parties as (potentially) governing parties, should be no longer seen as exceptional in themselves, but rather as symptomatic of a political competition that is in fact representing a ‘new normal’. It focuses on the European Parliament elections 2024. These elections have provid…
The United Kingdom 2017 election: Polarisation in a Split Issue Space
After decades in which party competition was fought in the centre ground, the 2017 UK General Election witnessed a return to more conflictual politics. This article assesses public support for the electoral strategies of the main parties and examines the extent to which the issues the parties campaigned on resonated with their own supporters, as well as with the wider public. Drawing on the issue-yield framework, the article shows that the Conser…
Political Socialization and the Making of Citizens
Political socialization describes the process by which citizens crystalize political identities, values and behavior that remain relatively persistent throughout later life. This chapter provides a comprehensive discussion of the scholarly debate on political socialization, posing a number of questions that arise in the study of political socialization and the making of citizens. First, what is it about early life experiences that makes them matt…
The Compensation Effect of Civic Education on Political Engagement: How Civics Classes Make Up for Missing Parental Socialization
Revisiting the political life-cycle model: Later Maturation and Turnout Decline Among Young Adults
Turnout among young adults has declined steadily in various advanced industrial democracies in recent decades. At the same time, as a consequence of delayed transitions to adulthood, many life-cycle events considered important for the development of electoral participation are experienced later in life. These combined trends call for a revaluation of the political life-cycle model and the way in which it explains voter turnout among young adults.…
The role of deliberation in attitude change: An empirical assessment of three theoretical mechanisms
Though the impact of deliberative polling on attitude change has received ample attention in the literature, micro models of attitude change before, during, and after deliberation are understudied. The relative strength of three competing views of the way attitudes change—the heuristics, systematic, and deliberative models—is assessed, using the quasi-experimental data of the EuroPolis deliberative project and comparing a group of people who part…
Revealing preferences: Does deliberation increase ideological awareness among the less well educated
Research suggests that the rightist discourse on immigration appeals to left‐leaning citizens with lower levels of education. The opposite is, however, not true for right‐wing voters with lower educational levels, and this asymmetry leaves left‐wing parties at a disadvantage compared with the right on immigration and integration issues. Deliberative theory promises that discussion, information and reflection can promote a more balanced political …
The hierarchies of age-period-cohort research: Political context and the development of generational turnout patterns
Homemade citizens: The development of political interest during adolescence and young adulthood
Standing for Parliament: Do Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Candidates Pay Extra
Western democracies, with their increasingly diverse racial and ethnic populations, are seeing more political candidates who are non-white. How do these non-white candidates fare at the ballot box? Does their non-white status mean they gain or lose votes? Do their challengers gain or lose votes? In recent work on the US case, it appears that candidate Obama lost votes in 2008 because of his non-white status. The research question we address here …
The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout
The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout
Homemade citizens: The development of political interest during adolescence and young adulthood
The Compensation Effect of Civic Education on Political Engagement: How Civics Classes Make Up for Missing Parental Socialization
The hierarchies of age-period-cohort research: Political context and the development of generational turnout patterns
Revisiting the political life-cycle model: Later Maturation and Turnout Decline Among Young Adults
Turnout among young adults has declined steadily in various advanced industrial democracies in recent decades. At the same time, as a consequence of delayed transitions to adulthood, many life-cycle events considered important for the development of electoral participation are experienced later in life. These combined trends call for a revaluation of the political life-cycle model and the way in which it explains voter turnout among young adults.…
Standing for Parliament: Do Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Candidates Pay Extra
Western democracies, with their increasingly diverse racial and ethnic populations, are seeing more political candidates who are non-white. How do these non-white candidates fare at the ballot box? Does their non-white status mean they gain or lose votes? Do their challengers gain or lose votes? In recent work on the US case, it appears that candidate Obama lost votes in 2008 because of his non-white status. The research question we address here …
The role of deliberation in attitude change: An empirical assessment of three theoretical mechanisms
Though the impact of deliberative polling on attitude change has received ample attention in the literature, micro models of attitude change before, during, and after deliberation are understudied. The relative strength of three competing views of the way attitudes change—the heuristics, systematic, and deliberative models—is assessed, using the quasi-experimental data of the EuroPolis deliberative project and comparing a group of people who part…
How Group Appeals Shape Group-Party Linkages in Two Political Systems
To attract voters, politicians can appeal to their interests and attitudes through policies. They can also appeal to their identities by supplying candidates that belong to their social group or by sending messages that directly target the group. While there is an advanced literature on the role of policy appeals, much less is known about the effects of other appeals, whether social or group-based, or how they work. We conduct a conjoint experime…
Revealing preferences: Does deliberation increase ideological awareness among the less well educated
Research suggests that the rightist discourse on immigration appeals to left‐leaning citizens with lower levels of education. The opposite is, however, not true for right‐wing voters with lower educational levels, and this asymmetry leaves left‐wing parties at a disadvantage compared with the right on immigration and integration issues. Deliberative theory promises that discussion, information and reflection can promote a more balanced political …
The United Kingdom 2017 election: Polarisation in a Split Issue Space
After decades in which party competition was fought in the centre ground, the 2017 UK General Election witnessed a return to more conflictual politics. This article assesses public support for the electoral strategies of the main parties and examines the extent to which the issues the parties campaigned on resonated with their own supporters, as well as with the wider public. Drawing on the issue-yield framework, the article shows that the Conser…
Homemade citizens: The development of political interest during adolescence and young adulthood
Standing for Parliament: Do Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Candidates Pay Extra
Western democracies, with their increasingly diverse racial and ethnic populations, are seeing more political candidates who are non-white. How do these non-white candidates fare at the ballot box? Does their non-white status mean they gain or lose votes? Do their challengers gain or lose votes? In recent work on the US case, it appears that candidate Obama lost votes in 2008 because of his non-white status. The research question we address here …
The embarrassment of riches? A meta-analysis of individual-level research on voter turnout
The role of deliberation in attitude change: An empirical assessment of three theoretical mechanisms
Though the impact of deliberative polling on attitude change has received ample attention in the literature, micro models of attitude change before, during, and after deliberation are understudied. The relative strength of three competing views of the way attitudes change—the heuristics, systematic, and deliberative models—is assessed, using the quasi-experimental data of the EuroPolis deliberative project and comparing a group of people who part…
Revealing preferences: Does deliberation increase ideological awareness among the less well educated
Research suggests that the rightist discourse on immigration appeals to left‐leaning citizens with lower levels of education. The opposite is, however, not true for right‐wing voters with lower educational levels, and this asymmetry leaves left‐wing parties at a disadvantage compared with the right on immigration and integration issues. Deliberative theory promises that discussion, information and reflection can promote a more balanced political …
The hierarchies of age-period-cohort research: Political context and the development of generational turnout patterns
The Compensation Effect of Civic Education on Political Engagement: How Civics Classes Make Up for Missing Parental Socialization
Revisiting the political life-cycle model: Later Maturation and Turnout Decline Among Young Adults
Turnout among young adults has declined steadily in various advanced industrial democracies in recent decades. At the same time, as a consequence of delayed transitions to adulthood, many life-cycle events considered important for the development of electoral participation are experienced later in life. These combined trends call for a revaluation of the political life-cycle model and the way in which it explains voter turnout among young adults.…
Political Socialization and the Making of Citizens
Political socialization describes the process by which citizens crystalize political identities, values and behavior that remain relatively persistent throughout later life. This chapter provides a comprehensive discussion of the scholarly debate on political socialization, posing a number of questions that arise in the study of political socialization and the making of citizens. First, what is it about early life experiences that makes them matt…
The United Kingdom 2017 election: Polarisation in a Split Issue Space
After decades in which party competition was fought in the centre ground, the 2017 UK General Election witnessed a return to more conflictual politics. This article assesses public support for the electoral strategies of the main parties and examines the extent to which the issues the parties campaigned on resonated with their own supporters, as well as with the wider public. Drawing on the issue-yield framework, the article shows that the Conser…
Competing or complementary? Local and national competitiveness as explanatory factors of turnout in SMP systems
Rooted in the rational choice theory, high stake elections are considered to attract more voters than elections where the outcome is a foregone conclusion. In single member plurality systems, local and national competitiveness are both thought to be part of a voter’s consideration when deciding whether or not to turn out to vote. However, we know little about how these two levels of competitiveness interact. This article aims to shed light on the…
Adult belief change: New theoretical and empirical perspectives. Special issue introduction
Belief change in later life is understudied as it goes against the well‐established idea that political attitudes are formed early on in life and remain mostly stable thereafter. Recently, some studies have emerged that address adult belief change. However, these studies are mostly descriptive and offer relatively little insight into how, for whom, and under which conditions adult belief change takes place. This special issue on adult belief chan…
How Group Appeals Shape Group-Party Linkages in Two Political Systems
To attract voters, politicians can appeal to their interests and attitudes through policies. They can also appeal to their identities by supplying candidates that belong to their social group or by sending messages that directly target the group. While there is an advanced literature on the role of policy appeals, much less is known about the effects of other appeals, whether social or group-based, or how they work. We conduct a conjoint experime…
Ballot Box Battles: Sex, Ethnicity and the Electoral Performance of UK Candidates
A new normal? The EP elections 2024 amidst old and new challenges. Special issue introduction
The special issue addresses whether recent electoral dynamics characterised by high levels of disengagement, a more polarized conflict, and the establishment of challenger parties as (potentially) governing parties, should be no longer seen as exceptional in themselves, but rather as symptomatic of a political competition that is in fact representing a ‘new normal’. It focuses on the European Parliament elections 2024. These elections have provid…
Mind over bias: How is cognitive control related to politically motivated reasoning
People often favour information aligned with their ideological motives. Can our tendency for directional motivated reasoning be overcome with cognitive control? It remains contested whether cognitive control processes, such as cognitive reflection and inhibitory control, are linked to a greater tendency to engage in politically motivated reasoning, as proposed by the "motivated reflection" hypothesis, or can help people overcome it, as suggested …
Politics (16 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (14 works) · Political science (13 works) · Law (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works)