Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Fall 12-3-2025

Faculty Advisor(s)

Ann Gordon

Abstract

This study examines how fear of corruption functions as both a political weapon and a national ritual of moral reassurance. The focus lies in understanding why Americans across party lines express deep mistrust in political institutions while simultaneously seeking purity through accusation. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of U.S. voters, the research examines how partisan identity, media narratives, and generational memory influence the emotional economy of corruption—what citizens fear, whom they blame, and why those fears persist. Testing the initial expectation that Republicans would express greater concern about corruption revealed that such fear is shared widely across parties, reflecting a collective anxiety about moral decay rather than a single ideological divide. The findings show that while Republicans often associate corruption with bureaucrats, liberal elites, or federal overreach, Democrats frame it through corporate influence, interest groups, and celebrity-political entanglements. Age and lived experience amplify these perceptions: older generations shaped by Watergate and Cold War disillusionment remain especially vigilant, while younger voters inherit a climate of online outrage that blurs fact, scandal, and performance. This study suggests that corruption fear now operates less as a measure of ethics and more as a social identity—a marker of belonging to “the honest side” of a polarized culture. In doing so, it suggests that America’s war on corruption has become a cult of virtue, where anger is celebrated and trust is perceived as betrayal.

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Presented at the Fall 2025 Student Scholar Symposium at Chapman University.

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