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Will the real fundamental difference underlying ideology please stand up?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2014

Matt Motyl  and
Ravi Iyer
Matt Motyl
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904. motyl@virginia.eduhttp://people.virginia.edu/~msm6sw/
Ravi Iyer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089. raviiyer@usc.eduwww.polipsych.com
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Abstract

Negativity bias explains many ideological differences, yet does not explain research such as conservatives' greater life satisfaction. Conservatives live in safer communities, perhaps to escape negative emotions, yet display numerous other community preferences unrelated to negativity. This tendency toward cognitive consistency can explain both these phenomena and many of the phenomena described in the target article.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 322 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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