A larger fear-processing amygdala may make conservatives more susceptible to threats

Evidence

Do partisans have different ways of thinking about such things? Experimental evidence has shown that the fear-based amygdala tends to be larger in conservatives than in liberals. Some have speculated that this is why the lion’s share of fake news stories during the 2016 election were targeted toward a conservative audience. If you are trying to sell a conspiracy theory, perhaps the right wing is more fertile ground. The negativity bias noted by Fessler was not enormous: “Using a statistical measure that gauges how widely subjects were scattered across the political spectrum, the researchers reckoned that for each tick rightward, the average subject grew 2% less skeptical of statements when they warned of bad outcomes than when they promised good ones.” Still, over a large enough electorate, this is perhaps enough to skew things. In any case, Fessler’s work is the first to look at the question of gullibility as a function of political identity. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 117

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Conservatives believe threatening falsehoods more readily than liberals do — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 116; Perceived threat to in-group status evokes greater political conservatism. — Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson, On the Precipice of a…, 12; Fearfulness and threat orientation, not repressed aggression, drive authoritarianism — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2487 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived threat to in-group status evokes greater political conservatism. #corroborates (0.85) — Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson, On the Precipice of a…, 12
• Anticipatory status threat directly shifts reported political identity toward conservatism. #corroborates (0.85) — Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson, On the Precipice of a…, 69
• Fearfulness and threat orientation, not repressed aggression, drive authoritarianism #corroborates (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2487
• Fear can drive frightened citizens to endorse extreme countermeasures without moral deliberation #complicates (0.70) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2115