Ideology-Based Differences in Physiological Reactions to Media Messages

• In Event: HIGH-DENSITY: Cognitive and Emotional Approaches to Understanding Morality and Ideology

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate whether people with different political orientations and moral motives have different physiological reaction patterns while viewing media messages. More specifically, it tested the hypotheses that conservatives and people who are low in social justice motives pay more attention to negative messages and demonstrate higher aversive system activation while viewing messages, compared with their liberal and high social justice motive counterparts. Preliminary results found conservatives and low social justice motive subjects did demonstrate higher aversive system activation. However, conservatives didn’t show attentional preference for negative message as previous research suggested.

Authors

• Xia Zheng, Indiana U

• Jingjing Han, Indiana U