Rightwingers scare more easily than liberals, according to a new study.

[kpete]

Rightwingers scare more easily than liberals, according to a new study.

September 19, 2008
How scary is this spider? That may depend on your politics



… participants were then given two laboratory tests, to establish their physiological responses to frightening or unexpected stimuli. In the first test, they viewed 33 images, three of which were distressing or threatening: a large spider on the face of a frightened person; a dazed person with a bloody face; and maggots in an open wound. The scientists measured the electrical conductance of the skin, a standard measure of distress and arousal.

In the second test, the volunteers were subjected to a loud, unexpected noise, with scientists measuring the involuntary blinking that followed. A strong startle response is indicative of heightened fear and arousal. The results, which are published in the journal Science, revealed significant differences in both responses, which corresponded with people’s political views. Those with “markedly lower physical sensitivity to sudden noises and threatening visual images” tended to support liberal positions, while those with strong responses tended to be more conservative.

This would fit with the hypothesis that people who have more fearful responses to perceived threats are more likely to be conservative, while those who have weaker responses develop more liberal views.

more at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4783077.ece

[Submariner]

1. That's why "Operation Yellow Republican" was such an abysmal failure

I couldn't get the chickenhawk cowards to go fight Dubya's war. Republitards are weak minded weenies.

[ginnyinWI]

2. But we already knew that--

We didn't fall for the Bushie scare tactics leading up to the invasion of Iraq. I think my conservative relatives actually enjoy being afraid.

[Sal Minella]

4. Repubs seem to enjoy their "groupness" even when it is their own fear keeping them lassoed

into the "group" configuration. The liberals I know tend to be intensely independent thinkers and generally far better-informed than average and consistently better-informed than conservatives.

(After I hear Pat Buchanan speak about anything, it takes me awhile to recover, because I instinctively struggle against the idea that anybody can be that farging stupid.) Minnows, gnats and Republicans seem to crave being part of a group.

[azul]

3. Thanks for posting this, futher studies are called for I would think.

The media propaganda works on this fear vulnerability to try to heard Americans into the land of the chained and the home of the cowards camp. Thank God for the constitution.

[yardwork]

5. Yes, this will definitely require many further studies to test the validity of this one study.

But, I have to say that I intuitively agree with the findings. Every social conservative I know is full of fears. They tend to believe in a very dualistic world - good vs. evil. No grey areas. Bad guys are coming to get them. The bad guys vary depending on what they are told by TV and their preachers and the president. (These folks love authority figures. They can't function without being told what to do by an authority figure.) When I was a child the "bad guys" were the communists. Now they are terrorists. It's always something.

Underneath all the political and social fears (queer people gonna give me AIDS!!!) is the rock bottom fear that really has the social conservatives by the short hairs: God is going to get me if I vote for a Democrat. I'll go to hell.