Personal Biases or International Status?

Over the last 20 years, political scientists have documented a rise in rhetoric and behavior seemingly motivated by political leaders' concerns regarding the international status of their country. Yet, within the discipline debate continues as to the nature of status, with some suggesting status to be nothing more than a projection of personal biases and thus having little to no meaningful effect on political decision-making. In this talk, I argue that international status not only differs from personal biases, but the difference between the two is an important factor in how individuals develop preferences for potentially status-enhancing government action. Using 2013 national survey data from Japan, I show that Japanese nationals who perceived other countries to attribute an insufficient degree of status to Japan were more likely to both view Tokyo hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics favorably and to support government spending on athlete training with the express interest of increasing Japan's status. I also provide evidence that contrary to expectations, Japanese people recognized the higher international status of China, a historical and current political rival. These results substantiate the role international status plays in shaping policy preferences both in modern Japanese and world politics.

Alexandra “Alex” Mathieu is a political scientist studying international relations and comparative politics. Her research interests include international status and prestige, nationalism, immigration, social psychology, Japanese culture and society, and East Asian regional politics. Alexandra received her B.A. from Bowdoin College, where she double majored in Government & Legal Studies and Asian Studies. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in Political Science at Columbia University. Her dissertation titled “Unpacking International Status in the Japanese Context” clarifies conceptual issues and tests multiple hypotheses regarding how and why international status impacts foreign policy, particularly those relating to social identity theory and Olympic hosting. Prior to coming to Yale, Alexandra was a Visiting Researcher at Waseda University.