Conservatives are big fraidy cats: how to make them liberal

[RandomGuy]

Experiment Proves That Conservatives Are Little Baby Snowflakes Who Act the Way They Do Because Everything Terrifies Them

The most obvious answer when attempting to find the root cause for certain Americans being so obsessed with guns is fear. These people are scared of something—irrelevance, anarchy, immigrants, black people, aliens, Black Panther Build-a-Bears—and this fear drives them to amass arsenals and fight against even the idea of any sort of restriction. ...

This fear is why they’re so obsessed with arming themselves with multiple human killing machines. It’s why they fight against even the notion of incremental disarmament so vehemently. They are scared shitless of us. Of anyone who is not them. And this fear is why our shitty gun laws exist, and it’s why they will continue to.

Keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe from harm is perhaps our strongest human motivation, deeply embedded in our very DNA. It is so deep and important that it influences much of what we think and do, maybe more than we might expect. For example, over a decade now of research in political psychology consistently shows that how physically threatened or fearful a person feels is a key factor — although clearly not the only one — in whether he or she holds conservative or liberal attitudes.


Conservatives, it turns out, react more strongly to physical threat than liberals do. In fact, their greater concern with physical safety seems to be determined early in life: In one University of California study, the more fear a 4-year-old showed in a laboratory situation, the more conservative his or her political attitudes were found to be 20 years later.


Hmm.


With this in mind, John Bargh (the author of this piece) and three of his colleagues (Jaime Napier, Julie Huang and Andy Vonasch) conducted an experiment in which they turned conservatives into liberals by simply asking the conservatives to pretend that they weren’t controlled by fear.

But before they answered the survey questions, we had them engage in an intense imagination exercise. They were asked to close their eyes and richly imagine being visited by a genie who granted them a superpower. For half of our participants, this superpower was to be able to fly, under one’s own power. For the other half, it was to be completely physically safe, invulnerable to any harm.

If they had just imagined being able to fly, their responses to the social attitude survey showed the usual clear difference between Republicans and Democrats — the former endorsed more conservative positions on social issues and were also more resistant to social change in general.

But if they had instead just imagined being completely physically safe, the Republicans became significantly more liberal — their positions on social attitudes were much more like the Democratic respondents. And on the issue of social change in general, the Republicans’ attitudes were now indistinguishable from the Democrats.


Basically, if we could somehow find a way to convince conservatives not to be so fucking scared of every damn thing, they’d be better people.

This seems like a daunting task. Perhaps even impossible. But if they were able to convince themselves that we’re subhuman superpredators, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince them that they’re Black Panther.

https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/experiment-proves-that-conservatives-are-in-fact-litt-1823619179

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That shit explains a LOT-RG

[RandomGuy]

We have known this for a while.
Fear and Anxiety Drive Conservatives' Political Attitudes
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201612/fear-and-anxiety-drive-conservatives-political-attitudes

[Chris]

Well there's 90 seconds I won't get back.

[RandomGuy]

Here is the science for you fraidy cats:


Superheroes for change: Physical safety promotes socially (but not economically) progressive attitudes among conservatives
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2315/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.

[KenMcCoy]

"Keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe from harm is perhaps our strongest human motivation, deeply embedded in our very DNA. It is so deep and important that it influences much of what we think and do, maybe more than we might expect. "

So if conservatives are "scared" about being able to protect their family, does that mean liberals are Not? Does that explain why so many liberals come from single parent homes? Do the parents not care about their own offspring enough to feel the need to protect them?

"Conservatives are significantly more likely to be married than are moderates and liberals."

https://ifstudies.org/blog/more-than-money-the-liberal-conservative-divide-in-marriage

So...conservatives fear/care about their family, teach their kids values like self accountability, taking pride in a hard days work, and respecting others. Liberals, on the other hand, don't care about their offspring, those that they can't kill in the womb they eventually abandon, leaving the children to a life of always blaming others for their own downfalls, welfare, and poor work ethics.

Got it. Thanks.

[Chris]

So...conservatives fear/care about their family, teach their kids values like self accountability, taking pride in a hard days work, and respecting others. Liberals, on the other hand, don't care about their offspring, those that they can't kill in the womb they eventually abandon, leaving the children to a life of always blaming others for their own downfalls, welfare, and poor work ethics.

Got it. Thanks.

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-gBOoWjU3wDI%2FUFdS9Y-9_wI%2FAAAAAAAADCQ%2Fq-psML1GNqU%2Fs1600%2Fslow-clap-gif.gif&f=1

[RandomGuy]

"Keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe from harm is perhaps our strongest human motivation, deeply embedded in our very DNA. It is so deep and important that it influences much of what we think and do, maybe more than we might expect. "

So if conservatives are "scared" about being able to protect their family, does that mean liberals are Not? Does that explain why so many liberals come from single parent homes? Do the parents not care about their own offspring enough to feel the need to protect them?

"Conservatives are significantly more likely to be married than are moderates and liberals."

https://ifstudies.org/blog/more-than-money-the-liberal-conservative-divide-in-marriage

So...conservatives fear/care about their family, teach their kids values like self accountability, taking pride in a hard days work, and respecting others. Liberals, on the other hand, don't care about their offspring, those that they can't kill in the womb they eventually abandon, leaving the children to a life of always blaming others for their own downfalls, welfare, and poor work ethics.


Got it. Thanks.

"experimentally increasing feelings of physical safety increases conservatives' socially progressive attitudes. "

Liberals care about their family, teach their kids values like self accountability, taking pride in a hard days work, and respecting others.

Conservatives, on the other hand, don't care about anything other than money, those that they say they care about while unborn can starve to death after they are born so that hyper-wealthy can have an extra yacht, leaving any children so unlucky as to not be rich and white to a life of always being blamed for being born poor, and muh gays.

Got it. Thanks.

[RandomGuy]

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-gBOoWjU3wDI%2FUFdS9Y-9_wI%2FAAAAAAAADCQ%2Fq-psML1GNqU%2Fs1600%2Fslow-clap-gif.gif&f=1

"experimentally increasing feelings of physical safety increases conservatives' socially progressive attitudes. "

Not even a difficult study to reproduce.

What does it say about modern conservatism that it is built on insecurity and fear?

[rmt]

Here is the science for you fraidy cats:


Superheroes for change: Physical safety promotes socially (but not economically) progressive attitudes among conservatives
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2315/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.

Since imagination, genie or superpower is not going to protect me from a bad guy, I much prefer that my dh showed me how to shoot a shot gun and said, "you won't miss with this." Never been used but reassuring to have something - certainly gives some peace of mind while wondering whether police might or might not enter a building. But maybe your wife is not the scaredy cat than I am ...

[KenMcCoy]

"experimentally increasing feelings of physical safety increases conservatives' socially progressive attitudes. "

Liberals care about their family, teach their kids values like self accountability, taking pride in a hard days work, and respecting others.

Conservatives, on the other hand, don't care about anything other than money, those that they say they care about while unborn can starve to death after they are born so that hyper-wealthy can have an extra yacht, leaving any children so unlucky as to not be rich and white to a life of always being blamed for being born poor, and muh gays.

Got it. Thanks.

How can liberals care about their family and teach values if they are less likely to be married? Do you deny the studies that correlate a childs future economic well being to a stable two parent home?

[clambake]

How can liberals care about their family and teach values if they are less likely to be married? Do you deny the studies that correlate a childs future economic well being to a stable two parent home?
so, what does that make the trumps?

[DMC]

*puke* "hey look, another article! Spurtalk needs to see this ASAP!

[KenMcCoy]

so, what does that make the trumps?

Donald isn't a true conservative; he gets a pass for chasing porn star tail because of his liberal tendencies. His (older) kids appear to be fairly conservative, each of them are married...the sons are gun owners too, they must be really scared.

I'm ok with the hypothesis of the original article. While not overly religious, I do fear not being able to support my family. That fear drives me to excel at work, put money away for rainy days/retirement, invest (in the stock market and other businesses), teach my children to respect their elders by saying ma'am and sir, teach them that the only person they can/should ever try to change is themselves, and just be a good human being.

Am I scared? Yes, and I'm ok with that. Fear is good.

[TeyshaBlue]

Honestly the stupidest case of 'it says what I wanted it to say" I've read in a long time. Drawing concrete conclusions from thought experiments (imagine you have a super power. How does that make you feel? :lol) designed specifically to produce said results?

This is boutons level posting.

[sickdsm]

so, what does that make the trumps?

A liberal that ran under a Rep ticket..............

[sickdsm]

Honestly the stupidest case of 'it says what I wanted it to say" I've read in a long time. Drawing concrete conclusions from thought experiments (imagine you have a super power. How does that make you feel? :lol) designed specifically to produce said results?

This is boutons level posting.

I've come to the conclusion that RandomGuy is a slightly more articulate and coherent version of boutons. I keep overestimating him but continually am baffled at the level stooped to.

[baseline bum]

A liberal that ran under a Rep ticket..............

:rollin

[ElNono]

"Keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe from harm is perhaps our strongest human motivation, deeply embedded in our very DNA. It is so deep and important that it influences much of what we think and do, maybe more than we might expect. "

So if conservatives are "scared" about being able to protect their family, does that mean liberals are Not? Does that explain why so many liberals come from single parent homes? Do the parents not care about their own offspring enough to feel the need to protect them?

"Conservatives are significantly more likely to be married than are moderates and liberals."

https://ifstudies.org/blog/more-than-money-the-liberal-conservative-divide-in-marriage

So...conservatives fear/care about their family, teach their kids values like self accountability, taking pride in a hard days work, and respecting others. Liberals, on the other hand, don't care about their offspring, those that they can't kill in the womb they eventually abandon, leaving the children to a life of always blaming others for their own downfalls, welfare, and poor work ethics.

Got it. Thanks.

The bolded is a ridiculous jumping to conclusions. Furthermore, Conservatives and Democrats have about the same divorce rate, so the 'family values' BS is nothing but chit chat, has been for a while.

And lol @ the alleged conservative ownership of values....

[ElNono]

Honestly the stupidest case of 'it says what I wanted it to say" I've read in a long time. Drawing concrete conclusions from thought experiments (imagine you have a super power. How does that make you feel? :lol) designed specifically to produce said results?

This is boutons level posting.

:lol the article is garbage, but you gotta admit it brings the best out of red teamers...

[ElNono]

Donald isn't a true conservative; he gets a pass for chasing porn star tail because of his liberal tendencies.

lol @ litmus tests, that get automatically waived when convenient... This is called partisan hackery, kids....

[Spurtacular]

"Fraidy Cats" :lol

You chumpettes can't even come to terms with the fact that you tried to put a fag hag into office.

[ElNono]

Sorry, don't want my conservative peeps getting offended, RG is a proud liberal too, tbh... this is well known...

[ElNono]

And honestly, fear is the biggest psychological construction of religion, tbh... it served humanity well for centuries, until we were able to put together a somewhat civil society under laws and democracy and what not...

Probably a dated construct at this point, desperately seeking relevancy, but you can't outright claim it was never useful, IMO.

[Spurtacular]

And honestly, fear is the biggest psychological construction of religion, tbh... it served humanity well for centuries, until we were able to put together a somewhat civil society under laws and democracy and what not...

Probably a dated construct at this point, desperately seeking relevancy, but you can't outright claim it was never useful, IMO.

Fear is a part of society more than ever, dude.

[ElNono]

Fear is a part of society more than ever, dude.

Fear will always be integral part, tbh... but it doesn't have to be fear from god, as it was in the past... now there's other, much more tangible social deterrents...

[ElNono]

If anything, Trump's election pretty much signals the death of social conservatism as an electable platform, tbh... which is actually good news for the GOP if they can continue to walk that line...

[Spurminator]

If anything, Trump's election pretty much signals the death of social conservatism as an electable platform, tbh... which is actually good news for the GOP if they can continue to walk that line...

I don't know if I'd go that far. At best, it's the death of requiring that socially conservative leaders practice (or even pretend to practice) what they preach. Evangelicals still eat it up when he talks about Christian values.

[Spurtacular]

Fear will always be integral part, tbh... but it doesn't have to be fear from god, as it was in the past... now there's other, much more tangible social deterrents...

The point is total fear is high as ever. So, really what's the point of complaining?

[ElNono]

I don't know if I'd go that far. At best, it's the death of requiring that socially conservative leaders practice (or even pretend to practice) what they preach. Evangelicals still eat it up when he talks about Christian values.

There's just not enough of them, and continue dwindling... there's no way Trump wins the primaries otherwise... What's worse, guys like Cruz or Pence couldn't win the general either...

I think it would be wise for the GOP to continue on that line, at least when it comes to presidential elections... evangelicals will wind up with some token cabinet positions anyways.

[ElNono]

The point is total fear is high as ever. So, really what's the point of complaining?

I disagree on that. Much, much worse times than right now in history. World War II, Inquisition, the Civil War, heck, even non-religious, non-war things like plagues, etc.

This is grand time to be alive, IMO.

[sickdsm]

If anything, Trump's election pretty much signals the death of social conservatism as an electable platform, tbh... which is actually good news for the GOP if they can continue to walk that line...

I'd agree with that. A good guage imo is stances on gay and lesbian. The only homophobics around are really old people or backwoods idiots.

[SnakeBoy]

And honestly, fear is the biggest psychological construction of religion, tbh... it served humanity well for centuries, until we were able to put together a somewhat civil society under laws and democracy and what not...

Probably a dated construct at this point, desperately seeking relevancy, but you can't outright claim it was never useful, IMO.

Athiests/Agnostics account for less than 20% of the population so I don't see how you come to the conclusion that religion is desperately seeking relevance. It's fine to have whatever views you want but let's keep it real.

[ElNono]

Athiests/Agnostics account for less than 20% of the population so I don't see how you come to the conclusion that religion is desperately seeking relevance. It's fine to have whatever views you want but let's keep it real.

It's not a membership/self-identification problem, it's a relevancy problem. Outside theocracies (which actually rule with a relative hard hand), people has moved onto picking/choosing/debating what they want to adhere to within their religion.

ie: Christianity is still a popular choice, but the Pope words don't carry anywhere near as much weight as it once did. Heck, the Pope figure doesn't carry anywhere near as much political weight as it once did.

[CosmicCowboy]

Anyone watch Vikings? Several times they overlaid Viking "pagan" rituals with catholic mass bouncing back and forth. Made both look ridiculous.

[koriwhat]

Athiests/Agnostics account for less than 20% of the population... but make up 100% of the users on mmorpg's.

fify... lol

[boutons_deux]

Satanists trolling the Christian supremacist theocrats :lol

[Spurtacular]

I disagree on that. Much, much worse times than right now in history. World War II, Inquisition, the Civil War, heck, even non-religious, non-war things like plagues, etc.

This is grand time to be alive, IMO.

Well, wars and tumultuous times aside, I was speaking of the social construct and what creates fear. We live in an age in which manipulation and fear politics is at an all time high. If one doesn't follow the company line, he/she is up the creek without a paddle.

[ElNono]

Well, wars and tumultuous times aside, I was speaking of the social construct and what creates fear. We live in an age in which manipulation and fear politics is at an all time high. If one doesn't follow the company line, he/she is up the creek without a paddle.

Only the gullible has those fears, I suppose. What's the worse that can happen if you don't adhere to the norm du jour ? Ostracism and ridicule? I mean, talk about snowflakes, tbh...

First world problems I guess...

[CosmicCowboy]

Only the gullible has those fears, I suppose. What's the worse that can happen if you don't adhere to the norm du jour ? Ostracism and ridicule? I mean, talk about snowflakes, tbh...

First world problems I guess...

No shit. Hysterical little bitches.

[Spurtacular]

Only the gullible has those fears, I suppose. What's the worse that can happen if you don't adhere to the norm du jour ? Ostracism and ridicule? I mean, talk about snowflakes, tbh...

First world problems I guess...

And they're that because of our values. Corruption corrupts.

[Splits]

972729024190603265

[TeyshaBlue]

oh, a rawstory op. Thanks boutons.

[TeyshaBlue]

And yes, I read it. Go stand in the RSS feed corner with RG.

[CosmicCowboy]

And yes, I read it. Go stand in the RSS feed corner with RG.

:lol