The differences between conservatives and liberals may be psychologically fundamental. A new study indicates that the thought processes of political conservatives gives greater weight to negative information. Conservatives are significantly more likely to remember images that evoke negative emotions.Conservatives and liberals know there is a chasm between their policy and social ideals. But a new study shows that their differences may be psychologically fundamental.In other words, conservatives in the study were more likely to remember things that evoked negative emotions -- images of war, snakes, dead animals -- than their more liberal counterparts.
First, study organizers placed participants on a political scale based on their degree of approval or disapproval on 20 hot-button political issues. They were then asked to study 120 negative, positive and neutral pictures in preparation for a memory test.
Afterward, participants viewed 240 pictures -- an even split of new and previously seen images -- and were asked to identify the pictures they had already seen.
Scientists hypothesized that they would see some difference in memory of positive and negative imagery between conservatives and liberals, but were surprised at the pronounced difference. The most conservative participants remembered about 91 percent of negative images compared with 80 percent of positive ones. The most liberal participants, in contrast, remembered about 84 percent of negative images compared with 86 percent of positive ones.
There will always be a good idea in term of politics but there will always be a barrier that cant be moved. Its always the tradional system which is eating the whole political system even the administration itself. It really takes blood and time to make a change even the time of WWII. First, study organizers placed participants on a political scale based on their degree of approval or disapproval on 20 hot-button political issues. They were then asked to study 120 negative, positive and neutral pictures in preparation for a memory test.
Afterward, participants viewed 240 pictures -- an even split of new and previously seen images -- and were asked to identify the pictures they had already seen.
Scientists hypothesized that they would see some difference in memory of positive and negative imagery between conservatives and liberals, but were surprised at the pronounced difference. The most conservative participants remembered about 91 percent of negative images compared with 80 percent of positive ones. The most liberal participants, in contrast, remembered about 84 percent of negative images compared with 86 percent of positive ones.