Superheroes for change: Physical safety promotes socially (but not economically) progressive attitudes among conservatives |
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| Authors: | Jaime L. Napier Julie Huang Andrew J. Vonasch John A. Bargh |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE;2. Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA;3. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA;4. Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
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| Abstract: | Across two studies, we find evidence for our prediction that experimentally increasing feelings of physical safety increases conservatives' socially progressive attitudes. Specifically, Republican and conservative participants who imagined being endowed with a superpower that made them invulnerable to physical harm (vs. the ability to fly) were more socially (but not economically) liberal (Study 1) and less resistant to social change (Study 2). Results suggest that socially (but not economically) conservative attitudes are driven, at least in part, by needs for safety and security. |
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| Keywords: | political ideology threat safety social change |
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