Study Finds Possible Biological Basis for Political Positions

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 18, 2008; 3:55 PM

People who startle easily in response to threatening images or loud sounds seem to have a biological predisposition to adopt conservative political positions on many hot-button social issues, according to unusual new research being published today.

The finding -- certain to stir debate in the middle of a presidential campaign -- suggests that people who are particularly sensitive to signals of visual and auditory threats also tend to adopt a more defensive stance on political issues, from immigration and gun control to defense spending and patriotism. People who are less sensitive to potential threats, by contrast, seem predisposed to adopt more liberal positions on those issues.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091802265.html?

So is conservatism really panic attacks?

so sad

I'm a big weenie, a big Liberal weenie. :D

you feel the fear but don't let that fear control your decision making.

:applause:

I'll take it! :D

Hibbing and the other researchers who conducted the study stressed that physiology is only one factor in how people come to their political views -- and it is far from being the most important factor. Startle responses, moreover, cannot be used to predict the political views of any one individual -- there are many liberals who startle easily and many conservatives who do not. What the study did find is that, across groups of people, there seems to be an association between people's sensitivity to physical threats and their sensitivity to threats affecting their social groups and social order.

That explains 99.9% of all conservatives....

and loud noises and sudden movements send them
flying out the door.

:)