TY - JOUR
T1 - Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism
AU - Eidelman, Scott
AU - Crandall, Christian S.
AU - Goodman, Jeffrey A.
AU - Blanchar, John C.
PY - 2012/6
Y1 - 2012/6
N2 - The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. In Study 1, alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased, so did political conservatism (controlling for sex, education, and political identification). In Study 2, participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts. In Study 3, time pressure increased participants' endorsement of conservative terms. In Study 4, participants considering political terms in a cursory manner endorsed conservative terms more than those asked to cogitate; an indicator of effortful thought (recognition memory) partially mediated the relationship between processing effort and conservatism. Together these data suggest that political conservatism may be a process consequence of low-effort thought; when effortful, deliberate thought is disengaged, endorsement of conservative ideology increases.
AB - The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. In Study 1, alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased, so did political conservatism (controlling for sex, education, and political identification). In Study 2, participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts. In Study 3, time pressure increased participants' endorsement of conservative terms. In Study 4, participants considering political terms in a cursory manner endorsed conservative terms more than those asked to cogitate; an indicator of effortful thought (recognition memory) partially mediated the relationship between processing effort and conservatism. Together these data suggest that political conservatism may be a process consequence of low-effort thought; when effortful, deliberate thought is disengaged, endorsement of conservative ideology increases.
KW - conservatism
KW - conservative ideology
KW - low-effort thought
KW - political attitudes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861665999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84861665999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0146167212439213
DO - 10.1177/0146167212439213
M3 - Article
C2 - 22427384
AN - SCOPUS:84861665999
SN - 0146-1672
VL - 38
SP - 808
EP - 820
JO - Personality and social psychology bulletin
JF - Personality and social psychology bulletin
IS - 6
ER -