Claudia Zuniga

Claudia Zuniga
  • Doctor in Psychology
  • Professor (Associate) at University of Chile

About

84
Publications
41,445
Reads
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1,117
Citations
Introduction
I'm currently Associate Professor at the Universidad de Chile. My research focuses mainly on two areas: [1] social identities and their relationship with social mobilization; [2] and the measurement of psychosocial variables.
Current institution
University of Chile
Current position
  • Professor (Associate)
Education
August 2002 - November 2004
Autonomous University of Madrid
Field of study
  • Psychology
November 2000 - January 2006
Autonomous University of Madrid
Field of study
  • Psychology
February 1991 - December 1996
University of La Frontera
Field of study
  • Psychology

Publications

Publications (84)
Article
Full-text available
Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in great loss of life worldwide and shook the global economy, required individuals' willingness and ability to behave prosocially. To contribute to the understanding of predictors of prosociality, we used multilevel models to test three previously established pathways to prosocial behavior, which we...
Article
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The coronavirus pandemic posed a major challenge to mental health. Existing evidence shows that COVID-19 is related to poor emotional well-being, particularly among women. However, most work on the subject uses single-country samples, limiting the ability to generalize the disparity or explain it as a function of societal variables. The present stu...
Article
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This article explores the mediating role of social identity in the relationship between emotions—both positive and negative—and participation in collective action. The study sample included university students from Peru (N = 599; M = 24.5 years) and Chile (N = 592; M = 22.2 years). A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to analyze t...
Article
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The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward a more traditional division of labor–one where women took greater responsibility for household tasks and childcare than men. We tested whether this regressive shift was more acutely perceived and experienced by women in countries with greater gender equality. Cross-cultural longitudinal survey d...
Article
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The media-based communication between social movements and other actors is relevant to achieve their goals. This article addresses the dynamic and contentious aspects of the media-based communication generated by the Magallanes Social Movement and the Government of Chile. A quantitative analysis was made of 217 news and 499 quotations published dur...
Article
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Virus mitigation behavior has been and still is a powerful means to fight the COVID-19 pandemic irrespective of the availability of pharmaceutical means (e.g., vaccines). We drew on health behavior theories to predict health-protective (coping-specific) responses and hope (coping non-specific response) from health-related cognitions (vulnerability,...
Article
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This work addresses collective action in the context of a social movement facing police repression in a democratic country. The movement studied was carried out in a region of southern Chile, had a very high citizen participation and deployed normative and non-normative actions. We aim to understand why people decided to participate and how they ca...
Article
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Psychologicalresearchonthepredictorsofconspiracytheorizing—explainingimpor-tant social and political events or circumstances as secret plots by malevolentgroups—has flourished in recent years. However, research has typically examinedonly a small number of predictors in one, or a small number of, national con-texts. Such approaches make it difficult...
Article
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El reciente auge de la protesta social en América Latina ha tensionado las tesis que auguraron que las reformas neoliberales debilitarían el rol de los movimientos sociales. El movimiento estudiantil chileno es paradigmático en este sentido, tanto por su masividad como por surgir en uno de los países de mayor consolidación del neoliberalismo. Utili...
Article
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Some public officials have expressed concern that policies mandating collective public health behaviors (e.g., national/regional “lockdown”) may result in behavioral fatigue that ultimately renders such policies ineffective. Boredom, specifically, has been singled out as one potential risk factor for noncompliance. We examined whether there was emp...
Article
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Objective This article seeks to better understand the differences between radical and moderate activists who come from the same mobilization process. Methods Using an original survey data of participants in a regionalist movement in Chile, we employed latent class analysis on 15 different tactics. We found support for a radical, a moderate, and a...
Article
Anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and home confinement has been associated with adverse health behaviors, such as unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking. However, most studies have been limited by regional sampling, which precludes the examination of behavioral consequences associated with the pandemic at a global level. Further, few s...
Article
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The present paper examines longitudinally how subjective perceptions about COVID-19, one’s community, and the government predict adherence to public health measures to reduce the spread of the virus. Using an international survey ( N = 3040), we test how infection risk perception, trust in the governmental response and communications about COVID-19...
Article
Full-text available
Before vaccines for COVID-19 became available, a set of infection prevention behaviors constituted the primary means to mitigate the virus spread. Our study aimed to identify important predictors of this set of behaviors. Whereas social and health psychological theories suggest a limited set of predictors, machine learning analyses can identify cor...
Article
Full-text available
Anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and home confinement has been associated with adverse health behaviors, such as unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking. However, most studies have been limited by regional sampling, which precludes the examination of behavioral consequences associated with the pandemic at a global level. Further, few s...
Article
Understanding the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake is important to inform policy decisions and plan vaccination campaigns. The aims of this research were to: (1) explore the individual- and country-level determinants of intentions to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and (2) examine worldwide variation in vaccination intentions. This cross-s...
Article
Coastal zones are complex systems where sustainability needs local participative governance, whose absence may result in conflicts between social actors. In its absence, the first step should be a diagnosis of the current situation based on integrative conceptual frameworks such as the DPSIR. However, in conflicting situations, the generated model...
Article
Full-text available
Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from...
Article
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During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors dete...
Article
During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors dete...
Chapter
This chapter provides insight into the achievements and weaknesses of the Chilean transition and its relationship with recent social mobilizations and the present and future of its democracy. We begin by describing the main achievements of the transition, followed by its major shortcomings and how the social unrest (generated by the unresolved issu...
Article
Full-text available
This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N = 25,435). The main predictors were (1) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (...
Article
Full-text available
Se presenta el diseño y validación inicial de un test de intereses profesionales con fines de orientación vocacional para estudiantes secundarios chilenos de colegios públicos científico-humanistas. Se revisan antecedentes sobre intereses profesionales, la perspectiva de la teoría sociocognitiva de carrera y consideraciones acerca de los instrument...
Book
The cultural richness of Latin America comes from a unique combination of Indigenous Peoples, the transplanted Europeans who conquered the region beginning in the 16th century, the migrations after independence in the early 19th century, and the continuous processes of mixing and integration. This book presents a broad spectrum of perspectives, ill...
Article
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The COVID-19 pandemic presents threats, such as severe disease and economic hardship, to people of different ages. These threats can also be experienced asymmetrically across age groups, which could lead to generational differences in behavioral responses to reduce the spread of the disease. We report a survey conducted across 56 societies (N = 58,...
Article
The prolific expansion of intergroup contact research has established that intergroup interactions are tightly linked to social integration. In this review, recent technological and statistical innovations with the potential to advance this body of research are presented. First, concerns over the validity of longitudinal models are discussed before...
Article
Nowadays it is customary to incorporate emotions as explanatory variables of protest participation, since numerous studies have provided evidence for their relevance. However, the incorporation of emotions in quantitative research continues to emphasise the effect of a limited set of emotions (normally one or two with negative valence, such as ange...
Article
Coastal zones are complex systems where sustainability needs local participative governance, whose absence may result in conflicts between social actors. In its absence, the first step should be a diagnosis of the current situation based on integrative conceptual frameworks such as the DPSIR. However, in conflicting situations, the generated model...
Preprint
Full-text available
The Coronavirus is highly infectious and potentially deadly. In the absence of a cure or a vaccine, the infection prevention behaviors recommended by the World Health Organization constitute the only measure that is presently available to combat the pandemic. The unprecedented impact of this pandemic calls for swift identification of factors most i...
Preprint
Full-text available
In this work, we study how social contacts and feelings of solidarity shape experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. We draw on cross-national data, collected across four time points between mid-March until early May 2020. We situate our work within the public debate on these issues and discuss to what extent the public...
Preprint
Full-text available
According to health behavior theories, perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors determine motivation to follow these recommendations. Because the U.S. President Trump and U.S. conservative politicians downplayed the risk and seriousness of contracting COVID-19 and the effectiv...
Article
Full-text available
The PsyCorona collaboration is a research project to examine processes involved in the COVID-19 pandemic, such as behavior that curbs virus transmission, which may implicate social norms, cooperation, and self-regulation. The study also examines psychosocial consequences of physical distancing strategies and societal lockdown, such as frustration o...
Article
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The current study aimed to determine whether workgroup identification and alcohol consumption social norms of workgroup moderates the relationship between job demands and alcohol consumption in workers. Regression analysis using the moderated moderation macro in a sample of workers from a telecommunications company in Chile (N = 1,143) supports the...
Article
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Mapping the Moods of COVID-19: Global Study Uses Data Visualization to Track Psychological Responses, Identify Targets for Intervention
Article
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El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo identificar el rol de la clase social en la participación o no participación de las personas en acciones de protesta, en el marco de las movilizaciones socioambientalistas, llevadas a cabo el año 2016 en la Isla de Chiloé, en el sur de Chile. Para esto, se realizó un estudio cuantitativo transversal, aplicándo...
Preprint
This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N=25,435). The main predictors were (i) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (ii...
Preprint
Full-text available
Previous studies suggested that public trust in government is vital for implementations of social policies that rely on public's behavioural responses. This study examined associations of trust in government regarding COVID-19 control with recommended health behaviours and prosocial behaviours. Data from an international survey with representative...
Article
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La psicología en tanto práctica profesional y de investigación científica no puede ni debe permanecer aislada de los contextos en los que se desarrolla. Frente a los profundos sentimientos de malestar expresados por el pueblo chileno en movilizaciones sociales desde el 18 de octubre de 2019, que responden directamente a la implementación de un mode...
Article
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Psychology as a professional and scientific practice should and must not remain isolated from the contexts in which it develops. Considering the deep feelings of discomfort expressed by the Chilean people during social mobilizations since October 18th, 2019, in response to the implementation for decades of a neoliberal model devoid of social justic...
Article
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The recent literature on social movements has highlighted the fundamental role of leaders in their emergency and development. One of the most important discussions in this regard has focused on understanding the relationship between agency and structure in the context of collective protests. Using conceptual tools proposed by Bourdieu (1986), it ha...
Article
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El presente artículo indaga en las dinámicas emocionales asociadas a la participación en movimientos sociales en una fase de declive o de baja movilización en un ciclo de protesta. A partir del estudio del caso del movimiento estudiantil chileno en los años 2016-2017, en su fase más baja de movilización desde el año 2011, se analizan las respuestas...
Chapter
The Chiloé Island, located in Southern Chile, is worldwide known for its culture, originated in the syncretism between ancestral groups and colonizers, and molded through the interactions with the isolated ecosystems and extreme weather conditions. In this chapter, we analyze the state of the island’s social-ecological systems, the drivers (direct...
Article
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El presente trabajo investiga la forma en que las ciencias sociales, principalmente chilenas, están respondiendo a las dispares demandas que reciben actualmente y que consisten en aportar a la comprensión crítica de fenómenos relevantes para la sociedad y adecuarse a las recientes transformaciones en la forma de producir y comunicar conocimiento ci...
Article
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Se presentan los principales indicadores bibliométricos de la Revista de Psicología de la Universidad de Chile, con el fin de caracterizar su devenir histórico desde su fundación en 1990. Con este objetivo se desarrolló una base de datos con la totalidad de los artículos publicados por la revista en el período 1990-2016, los cuales se encuentran di...
Article
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This article presents the main bibliometric indexes of the Revista de Psicología of the University of Chile, in order to characterize its historical evolution since its foundation in 1990. With this goal, a database was developed with all the articles published by the journal in the 1990-2016 period, which are distributed in 25 volumes and 42 numbe...
Article
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El objetivo de esta investigación fue determinar el nivel de coincidencia existente entre las demandas pedagógicas que el Modelo de Formación por Competencias (MFC) hace a los docentes universitarios y las que expresan los estudiantes. Se ha construido un modelo de lo que constituiría un «Docente Universitario Competente» según el MFC, para compara...
Article
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La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo identificar y describir, de manera comprensiva, aquellos factores asociados a la elección de carrera en estudiantes de nivel socioeconómico bajo, que cursan primer año en universidades altamente selectivas de la Región Metropolitana, y detectar potenciales semejanzas y diferencias entre quienes acceden p...
Article
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With the objective of theoretically and psychometrically updating the Regional Identity Scale (RIS) proposed by Zúñiga and Asún in 2004 and expanding the population for which it shows evidence of validity, a revision and revalidation of this instrument was performed via two studies. The first study included 1,113 university students from four regio...
Article
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La calidad de la docencia universitaria se evalúa principalmente a través de cuestionarios aplicados a los estudiantes, los que no siempre surgen de un enfoque teórico sólido. Con el fin de avanzar en la construcción de un modelo teórico que dé sustento a al desarrollo de instrumentos de evaluación, tres fuentes de demandas hacia la docencia univer...
Article
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Causal attributions of homelessness may affect both the design and acceptance of public policies aimed at improving the situation of homeless people and the strategies that homeless people themselves decide to adopt in order to cope with their situation. This article analyzes the differences in causal attributions of homelessness based on gender, a...
Article
This study analyses the content and the uniformity of meta-stereotypes among homelessness people, and the stereotypes that domiciled people have of homeless people. The research took place in Madrid (Spain), based on data provided by a representative sample of homeless people (n = 188) and a sample of people at no risk of becoming homeless (n = 180...
Article
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The study analyzes the differences in causal attributions of homelessness and attributions of responsibility among the members of 3 groups: homeless group, consisting of a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid, Spain (n = 188); domiciled service-users group, consisting of people at risk of homelessness (n = 164); and domiciled nonservi...
Article
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El presente artículo realiza una revisión del desarrollo y estado actual de la Psicología Chilena. En 1946 se instaura formalmente la formación de Psicólogos en Chile, en 1959 se oficializa la Asociación de psicólogos de Chile y en 1968 se funda el Colegio de Psicólogos de Chile. Esto sitúa a Chile dentro de los primeros países de la región en el d...
Article
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Durante el año 2014 se resolvieron los concursos FONDECYT regular 2014 y de Iniciación a la investigación 2013. En el concurso de Iniciación a la Investigación, se presentaron 703 proyectos, de los cuales fueron aprobaron 308. De estos, 6 corresponden a Psicología (de un total de 20 proyectos postulados), por un valor de 358.897 millones de pesos,...
Article
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This research aimed to identify and describe the factors associated with career choice among low socioeconomic-status newcomers enrolled in highly selective universities at the Metropolitan Region of Chile. In addition, it sought to detect similarities and differences among students entering through regular admission (PSU) versus affirmative progra...
Article
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El presente trabajo se propone estudiar la relación entre los procesos de identificación grupal y discriminación intergrupal, a través del estudio de un caso idiosincrático, como es la relación entre la identidad nacional y las identidades regionales en Chile, desde la perspectiva de la Teoría de la Identidad Social. Vara ello aplicó un cuestionari...
Article
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The background of this investigation is the Chilean's decentralizing process from which the idea of describing Arica-Parinacota and O'Higgins's regional identity emerges by means of the evaluative meaning and the emotional meaning that university students give to their sense of regional belonging. It has a descriptive-interpretative qualitative app...
Article
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RESUMEN El antecedente de esta investigación es el proceso descentralizador chileno, del cual surge la idea de describir las identidades regionales de Arica-Parinacota y O'Higgins a través de los significados valorativo y emocional que estudiantes universitarios otorgan a su pertenencia regional. El enfoque es cualitativo de tipo descriptivo-interp...
Article
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The objective of present study was to assess the capability of the Social Identity Model (MISM) and of the Psychosocial Motives Model (MMP) to explain participation in regionalist social protests in Chile. We applied a survey in a representative sample of 1200 subjects over 18 years old living in four regions of the country. Results from multiple l...
Article
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This research was aimed to determine the level of matching between the pedagogical demands the Competencies Formation Model (CFM) puts on university teachers and those expressed by university students. For this, we have constructed a model of what would constitute a "Competent University Teacher" according to CFM and compared it to discourses of st...
Article
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A case study of social identity is analyzed, the Magallanic identity, to discover the elements that are important for the social identity theory in general, as well as the distinctive qualities and meanings of this particular regional identity. Research was conducted on a representative sample of the region's university student population, because...
Article
Full-text available
A case study of social identity is analyzed, the Magallanic identity, to discover the elements that are important for the social identity theory in general, as well as the distinctive qualities and meanings of this particular regional identity. Research was conducted on a representative sample of the region's university student population, because...
Article
Full-text available
Self-categorization theory explicitly recognizes the possibility that distinct identities have "nested" relationships among themselves, so that there is no incompatibility or conflict among them, as they are located at different levels of abstraction for the subjects. Our objective was to test this premise through the study of an idiosyncratic case...
Article
En un contexto de creciente consenso sobre la necesidad de fortalecer el proceso descentralizador chileno, se estudiaron las actitudes hacia la descentralización de estudiantes universitarios de dos regiones muy distintas entre sí, con el fin de determinar el grado en que el proceso de descentralización es apoyado por los ciudadanos de regiones, en...
Article
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A pesar de sus ventajas en la investigación psicométrica, la Teoría de Respuesta al Ítem (TRI) no ha logrado imponerse en la práctica cotidiana de medición de constructos psicológicos o actitudes sociales. En esta investigación se muestra la utilidad de trabajar con modelos de TRI politómicos a través de su comparación con la Teoría Clásica, al est...
Article
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Despite its advantages in psychometric research, Item Response Theory (IRT) has not been regularly used in the measurement of psychological constructs or social attitudes. This study used a scale of intolerance to demonstrate the usefulness of working with polytomous models of IRT in comparison with the Classical Test Theory to study attitudes. It...
Article
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El objetivo de la presente investigación fue diseñar y validar una escala tipo Likert para medir identidad regional. Para esto se aplicó un instrumento de 38 ítems a 249 estudiantes seleccionados en forma aleatoria de las universidades de la Región de la Araucanía, Chile. Utilizando el análisis de ítems, el cálculo de la fiabilidad del instrumento...

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