Wow. People, lets not be herded into conservative thinking by fear for the party

[HereSince1628]

I just read a "Pessimistic" post.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3210785

I was surprised to actually see on DU what I read about 4 years ago concerning how people are motivated into political conservatism.
Indeed what I read is perhaps the most "Jost-y" post I've ever encountered on DU.

If we let fear of the institutional fracturing of the Democratic party drive our behavior at the end of 2008 we may end up with a party at that is more conservative than when it started.

Jost et al (see abstract below) a group of nationally recognized researchers in psychology and social science did a metanalysis on 88 examples of papers on the causes and correlates of conservative behavior.

They found that fear (particularly of death) and anxiety about system instability (which could be things like 'the party is being destroyed!) were the foundations of conservative behavior.

Among correlates to these they found that conservatively motivated individuals had high intolerance of uncertainty (as in no one knows what is going to happen in November or even can be sure of the outcome of this primary season), and looked for security in institutional structure AND problem solving by authority (which could be things like the Bible, or recognized authority figures--as in professional party leaders!)


Reactions, as those of "Pessimistic" one drive people into conservative thinking which obviously leads to choices that are politicially conservative. If you don't want to read anything else, ponder this line from that abstract"

"The core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and justification
of inequality and is motivated by needs that vary situationally and dispositionally to manage uncertainty"


Let's not let our fear over an overly long primary herd us into conservative behavior just so we can manage our uncertainty.
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Psychological Bulletin Copyright 2003 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
2003, Vol. 129, No. 3, 339–375


Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition
John T. Jost
Stanford University
Jack Glaser
University of California, Berkeley
Arie W. Kruglanski
University of Maryland at College Park
Frank J. Sulloway
University of California, Berkeley

Analyzing political conservatism as motivated social cognition integrates theories of personality (authoritarianism,
dogmatism–intolerance of ambiguity), epistemic and existential needs (for closure,
regulatory focus, terror management), and ideological rationalization (social dominance, system justification).
A meta-analysis (88 samples, 12 countries, 22,818 cases) confirms that several psychological
variables predict political conservatism: death anxiety (weighted mean r
.50); system instability (.47);
dogmatism–intolerance of ambiguity (.34); openness to experience (–.32); uncertainty tolerance (–.27);
needs for order, structure, and closure (.26); integrative complexity (–.20); fear of threat and loss (.18);
and self-esteem (–.09). The core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and justification
of inequality and is motivated by needs that vary situationally and dispositionally to manage uncertainty

[blue sky at night]

1. I saw a little girl whose parents.....

are ultra-conservative in their views. (He carries a hand-gun at all times.) She was in the care of her Grandmother and Aunt at a Church Function...and I overheard them asking her what she was "afraid" of, why she couldn't relax at our program? I guess it all makes sense. We try to get across a message of not living in Fear to our Kids at Church, but the seeds sometimes fall on poor soil.