More Sensitive May Mean More Conservative, Study Finds
19th September 2008
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 issues, according to unusual new research published yesterday.
Imagine finding a “study” like this in the Washington Post. Guess they don’t know all that many conservatives.
The finding suggests that people who are particularly sensitive to signals of visual or auditory threats also tend to adopt a more defensive stance on political issues, such as immigration, gun control, defense spending and patriotism. People who are less sensitive to potential threats, by contrast, seem predisposed to hold more liberal positions on those issues.
That’s because they’re stupid and wouldn’t recognize a threat when they see one.