Study: Conservatives Are More Easily Disgusted

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People who squirm at the sight of bugs or are grossed out by blood and guts are more likely to be politically conservative, new studies find.

In particular, the squeamish are more apt to have conservative attitudes about gays and lesbians.

Lots of other research has tied politics to biology and behavior. Some quick background:

* A study last year found that when people feel physically clean, they are less judgmental.

* Another study found that political conservatives tend to be tidy, with organized offices, but liberals favor colorful, more stylish but cluttered spaces.

* Political views are driven by religion, culture and even biology, other research has shown.

* A large, global study in 2007 concluded that political preference is 50 percent genetic.

In one of the new studies, Cornell University psychology professor David Pizarro and colleagues surveyed 181 U.S. adults from politically mixed swing states. They used a Disgust Sensitivity Scale (DSS), which offers various scenarios to assess disgust sensitivity, as well as a political ideology scale. They found a correlation between being more easily disgusted and political conservatism.

Then they surveyed 91 Cornell undergraduates with the DSS, as well as with questions about their positions on issues including gay marriage, abortion, gun control, labor unions, tax cuts and affirmative action. Participants who rated higher in disgust sensitivity were more likely to oppose gay marriage and abortion, issues that are related to notions of morality or purity.

The results are detailed in the journal Cognition & Emotion.

In a separate study in the current issue of the journal Emotion, Pizarro and colleagues found a link between higher disgust sensitivity and disapproval of gays and lesbians. In this research, they used implicit measures, which assess attitudes people may be unwilling to report explicitly or that they may not even know they possess.

The studies were funded by the university.

Morals and disgust are intertwined. Research earlier this year found that people react similarly to disgusting photographs by curling the upper lip and wrinkling the nose. When judging behavior, our disgust can actually make us feel physically sick.

Pizarro explains that disgust is evolution's way of protecting us from disease. Unfortunately, in his view, disgust is now used to make moral judgments.

Liberals and conservatives disagree about whether disgust has a valid place in making moral judgments, Pizarro argues. Some conservatives think there is inherent wisdom in repugnance, that feeling disgusted about something - gay sex between consenting adults, for example - is cause enough to judge it wrong or immoral, even lacking a concrete reason, Pizarro explains. Liberals tend to disagree, and are more likely to base judgments on whether an action or a thing causes actual harm, he said.

Studying the link between disgust and moral judgment could help explain the strong differences in people's moral opinions, Pizarro figures. And it could offer strategies for persuading some to change their views.

"People have pointed out for a long time that a lot of our moral values seem driven by emotion, and in particular, disgust appears to be one of those emotions that seems to be recruited for moral judgments," Pizarro said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/200906...easilydisgusted

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

"People have pointed out for a long time that a lot of our moral values seem driven by emotion, and in particular, disgust appears to be one of those emotions that seems to be recruited for moral judgments," Pizarro said.

How very interesting

[Krikit 1,163]

No, really?

I am disgusted!

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

No, really?

I am disgusted!

I too am disgusted!

Mad I tell ya! Mad!

freaking-a nadless party!

Daniel

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... conservatives think there is inherent wisdom in repugnance ...

I've certainly heard variants of this argument made on VJ before.

[NickD 202]

Aren't you suppose to be conservative before calling yourself a conservative?

[_Simpson_ 250]

"Happiness is a complex thing. Past studies have found that happiness is partly inherited, that Republicans are happier than Democrats, and that old men tend to be happier than old women.

If you're thinking that Republicans are happy just because they perhaps make more money, that does not seem to be the case. The study that found Republicans to be happier than Democrats also showed that it held true even after adjusting for income. "

[Ban Hammer 13,113]

No, really?

I am disgusted!

No, really?

I am disgusted!

I too am disgusted!

Mad I tell ya! Mad!

freaking-a nadless party!

Daniel

congratulations, both of you must be conservatives.

[AlHayatZween 2]

Interesting, i read something similar this week, but can't remember where.

All i know is that bugs & blood & illness does not disgust me.

But pick your nose & ears next to me in the subway or on the bus, cough & don't cover your mouth, or flip your nasty hair all around and have it land on me...

i may have to start a fight... because that is nasty.

Edited June 5, 2009 by AlHayatZween

[spookyturtle 9,465]

They kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do and they are easlily disgusted? Now that's disgusting.

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They kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do and they are easlily disgusted? Now that's disgusting.

they really are just like al qaeda

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

They kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do and they are easlily disgusted? Now that's disgusting.

they really are just like al qaeda

They are terrorisers.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

They kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do and they are easlily disgusted? Now that's disgusting.

they really are just like al qaeda

It's so shocking. How are such things tolerated in this country?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

They kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do and they are easlily disgusted? Now that's disgusting.

they really are just like al qaeda

It's so shocking. How are such things tolerated in this country?

Because the education system is a hotbed of evil liberalism

[spookyturtle 9,465]

They kill anyone that doesn't believe as they do and they are easlily disgusted? Now that's disgusting.

they really are just like al qaeda

It's so shocking. How are such things tolerated in this country?

Because the education system is a hotbed of evil liberalism

So the liberalism bred the conservative terrorists?