Premium
Conservatives Anticipate and Experience Stronger Emotional Reactions to Negative Outcomes
Author(s) -
Joel Samantha,
Burton Caitlin M.,
Plaks Jason E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/jopy.12031
Subject(s) - psychology , optimism , anticipation (artificial intelligence) , biology and political orientation , social psychology , politics , affect (linguistics) , romance , developmental psychology , communication , artificial intelligence , computer science , political science , law , psychoanalysis
The present work examined whether conservatives and liberals differ in their anticipation of their own emotional reactions to negative events. In two studies, participants imagined experiencing positive or negative outcomes in domains that do not directly concern politics. In S tudy 1, 190 A merican participants recruited online (64 male, M age = 32 years) anticipated their emotional responses to romantic relationship outcomes. In S tudy 2, 97 C anadian undergraduate students (26 male, M age = 21 years) reported on their anticipated and experienced emotional responses to academic outcomes. In both studies, more conservative participants predicted they would feel stronger negative emotions following negative outcomes than did more liberal participants. Furthermore, a longitudinal follow‐up of S tudy 2 participants revealed that more conservative participants actually felt worse than more liberal participants after receiving a lower‐than‐desired exam grade. These effects remained even when controlling for the Big Five traits, prevention focus, and attachment style ( S tudy 1), and optimism ( S tudy 2). We discuss how the relationship between political orientation and anticipated affect likely contributes to differences between conservatives and liberals in styles of decision and policy choices.