In a 2012 study published in the prestigious journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, liberal and conservative participants were shown collages of both negative and positive images on a computer screen while their eye movements were recorded. While liberals were quicker to look at pleasant images, like a happy child or a cute bunny rabbit, conservatives tended to behave oppositely. They’d first inspect threatening and disturbing pictures—things like car wrecks, spiders on faces, and open wounds crawling with maggots—and would also tend to dwell on them for longer. This is what psychologists call a “negativity bias”. If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. When attention is biased toward the negative, the result is an overly threat-conscious appraisal of one’s surroundings. Essentially, to[o] many conservatives the world looks like a much scarier place.
Anyone paying attention to the 2016 Presidential campaign, early on though it may be, is likely to be struck by the dichotomy of philosophical approaches that separate the two major parties. Democrats tend to default to focusing on more positive themes; while Republicans seem to be the party of fear and anger. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Democrats see the doughnut; Republicans see the hole. Don’t believe me? Listen to the candidates for any length of time, and it doesn’t take long to understand the truth behind my argument. Mike Huckabee is talking about how God is punishing America for a host of sins (same-sex marriage, homosexuality, Dairy Queen hot dogs). Ted Cruz is channeling Joseph McCarthy. Bobby Jindal is pandering to the Rabid Christian Right. Marco Rubio is…well, who knows what Rubio is doing? Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina haven’t found an issue they can’t lie about. And so it goes.
Inspired leadership isn’t about fear and pitting one against the other. None of the GOP Presidential candidates seem qualified to manage a Pizza Hut, much less the most powerful country in the world. Yet they have no problem identifying what they feel to be wrong with this country (everything) and who’s to be held responsible for the decline and fall of Pax Americana (The Black Guy in the White House ©). Coming up with workable solutions? Well, that’s to come. In the meantime, we’re supposed to trust that they’ve got America’s best interests at heart…and if by “American,” you mean “Conservative Christian White male member of the 1%,” then they’re spot on. And to convince the American Sheeple to trust them, they first have to appear to their center, which, when it comes to Conservatives, is a pretty hyper-active part of the hive mind.
As it turns out there’s a scientific explanation for why modern Conservatives live in such a dark and fearful place. They’re not looking at the doughnut; they’re focused with laser-like intensity on the hole…and they’re looking for someone to blame for the existence of that hole. Conservatives react more negatively to startling noises and graphic images. They fear new experiences and ideas. The fear centers of their brains are more reactive. Conservatives are far more likely to default to seeing problems as opposed to opportunities. In summation,
- Conservatives tend to focus on the negative
- Conservatives are more anxious
- Conservatives fear new experiences
- Conservatives’ brains are more reactive to fear
This may help explain why Conservatives- at least the ones running for President- harbor such a pronounced, righteous disdain for science. They prefer answers and explanations that dovetail with their agenda. When science doesn’t cooperate and calls them out as the propaganda-addled anger balls they are…well, science can’t and doesn’t trump God’s will, knowhutimean??
It’s difficult to move forward when you’re afraid of what’s behind Door #1. When “NO!” is your default (see Congress since 1.20.09) it’s hard to imagine there’s any progress to be made. Not that today’s Conservatives don’t have anything to offer this country- far from it- but when their default response is equal parts smug arrogance, negativity, and denial of reality, that’s not Conservatism, certain not in the classical definition. What you have is the political equivalent of an ostrich with their head in the sand.
Is that any way to run a country and prepare it for the future? Don’t we deserve better than anger, fear, racism, and homophobia? I believe we do, but if you’re going to insist on voting for Republicans, we have little prospect of creating an America based on hope and optimism. We’ll be too busy wading in the muck of anger, fear, racism, and homophobia to actually fix problems…because it’s not the current crop of GOP ideologues and moral midgets have anything to offer America.
