Joshua Hart

Professor of Psychology

Psychology Department Chair

Bailey Hall 302

(518) 388-6353

hartj@union.edu

Pronouns

he/him/his

Psychology

Areas of expertise

Personality and social psychology, with an emphasis on close relationships, self-esteem, worldviews (i.e., belief systems), and their interplay.

Research interests

Professor Hart investigates the psychological consequences of humans’ uniquely advanced cognitive abilities and conscious self-awareness. While intelligence and self-awareness allow people to accumulate vast knowledge and appreciate the richness of life, they also expose individuals to existential anxieties—most notably pertaining to loss and death. This duality creates a precarious emotional existence, often requiring intricate psychological strategies to preserve well-being.

Hart’s research, originally inspired by terror management theory, examines how people manage (or mismanage) this existential burden. His work focuses on the roles of close relationships, self-esteem, and ideological worldviews (e.g., religious and political belief systems) in regulating psychological security. Drawing on attachment theory and related frameworks, he conceptualizes relationships, self-esteem, and worldviews as interconnected mechanisms that help individuals feel loved, valued, and grounded in meaning.

Recent and ongoing projects extend this work into contemporary sociopolitical contexts, exploring how psychological needs shape political attitudes and engagement. Hart's research aims to illuminate the fundamental motivational systems underlying personal well-being and social life in an age of uncertainty.

Publications

SELECTED PAPERS

(Note. *Denotes Union College Student)

Hart, J. & *Stekler, N. (2022). Does personality “Trump” ideology? narcissism predicts support for Trump via ideological tendencies. The Journal of Social Psychology, 162, 386-392. PDF

Hart, J. (2019b). What’s death got to do with it? Controversies and alternative theories. In C. Routledge & M. Vess (Eds.). Handbook of Terror Management Theory. Elsevier. PDF

Hart, J. (2019a). The influence of psychological security maintenance on political decision making. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press. PDF

Hart, J., & *Graether, M. (2018). Something’s going on here: Psychological predictors of belief in conspiracy theories. Journal of Individual Differences, 39, 229-237. PDF

Hart, J., & Chabris, C. F. (2016). Does A “Triple Package” of Traits Predict Success? Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 216-222. PDF

Hart, J., & *Howard, R. M. (2016). I want her to want me: Sexual misperception as a function of heterosexual men’s romantic attachment style. Personality and Individual Differences, 92, 97-103. PDF

Hart, J. (2015). The psychology of defensiveness: An integrative security system model of attachment, self-esteem, and worldviews. In P. J. Carroll, R. M., Arkin, & A. Wichman (Eds.), The handbook of personal security. New York: Psychology Press. PDF

Hart, J., *Nailling, E., Bizer, G. Y., & *Collins, C. K. (2015). Attachment theory as a framework for explaining engagement with Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences, 77, 33-40. PDF

Hart, J. (2014). Did Hurricane Sandy influence the 2012 US Presidential election? Social Science Research, 46, 1-8. PDF

Hart, J. (2014). Toward an integrative theory of psychological defense. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 19-39. PDF

Burns, D. J., Hart, J., *Kramer, M. E., & Burns, A. D. (2014). Dying to remember, remembering to survive: Mortality salience and survival processing. Memory, 22, 36-50.

*Contelmo, G., Hart, J., & Levine, E. H. (2013). Dream orientation as a function of hyperactivating and deactivating attachment strategies. Self and Identity, 12, 357-369.

Motyl, M., Hart, J., Cooper, D., Heflick, N., Goldenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2013). Creatureliness priming reduces aggression and support for war. British Journal of Social Psychology, 52, 648-666.

Hart, J., & Burns, D. J. (2012). Nothing concentrates the mind: Thoughts of death improve recall. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 19, 264-269.

Hart, J., *Hung, J. A., Glick, P., & Dinero, R. E. (2012). He loves her, he loves her not: Attachment style as a personality antecedent to men’s ambivalent sexism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1495-1504.

Tracy, J. L., Hart, J., & Martens, J. P. (2011) Death and Science: The existential underpinnings of belief in intelligent design and discomfort with evolution. PLoS ONE, 6: e17349.

Gillath, O., & Hart, J. (2010). The effects of emotional security and insecurity on political attitudes and leadership preferences. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 122-134.

Hart, J., *Schwabach, J. A., & Solomon, S. (2010). Going for broke: Mortality salience increases risky decision-making on the Iowa gambling task. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 425-432.

Gillath, O., Hart, J., Noftle, E. E., & Stockdale, G. (2009). Development and validation of a state measure of attachment anxiety and avoidance. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 362-373.

Hart, J., & Goldenberg, J. L. (2008). A terror management perspective on spirituality and the problem of the body. In A. Tomer, G. T. Eliason, and P. T. P. Wong (Eds.), Existential and spiritual issues in death attitudes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Goldenberg, J. L., Hart, J., Pyszczynski, T., Warnica, G. M., Landau, M., & Thomas, L. (2006). Ambivalence toward the body: Death, neuroticism, and the flight from physical sensation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1264-1277.

Hart, J., Shaver, P. R., & Goldenberg, J. L. (2005). Attachment, self-esteem, worldviews, and terror management: Evidence for a tripartite security system. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 999-1013.