via AlterNet:
Can Threats and Living in a State of Anxiety Push People to Conservatism?
By Lee Drutman,
Miller-McCune.com. Posted January 18, 2010.
Conservative ideas, like support for the status quo and justifications for inequality, can make the world seem like a more secure place for those who don't like uncertainty.Over the past year, a conservative right-wing movement has found a loud political voice in the United States. Strongly anti-government, the movement seems largely oriented around a message that anything the Obama administration wishes to accomplish is an attack on American tradition, and it is up to them to stop this radical socialist agenda emanating from Washington to preserve the country.
This burst of activity has left some asking where such a rush of conservative energy might come from. Is it a response to the anxiety and uncertainty of tough economic times? Does having an African-American president have anything to do with it?
According to some new research on the cognitive origins of political conservatism, the answers may be yes and yes.
Miriam Matthews, a doctoral candidate in social psychology at the Claremont Graduate University, Shana Levin, an associate profess of psychology at Claremont McKenna College, and Jim Sidanius, a professor of psychology and African-American studies at Harvard University, have found evidence that both general feelings of threat and specific anxiety about other ethnic groups sometimes do lead individuals to embrace two tenets of political conservatism — support for the status quo and a belief that there is a natural social hierarchy to society. These tenets provide a salve for uncertainties and anxieties by offering a belief system in which there is a strong order to things. .......(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.alternet.org/politics/145256/can_threats_and_living_in_a_state_of_anxiety_push_people_to_conservatism