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Conservative/Lefty correlates to "appetitive"/"aversive"?

dogjones

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2012/jan/31/socialists-conservatives-born-not-made
Emotions in mammals are fuelled by the brain's evolutionarily ancient "appetitive" (desire for food and attachment) and "aversive" (defensive) systems. The appetitive system promotes social cohesion whereas aversive mechanisms drive autonomous survival. These mechanisms can be categorised as approach or avoidant responses: we approach what gives us pleasure (such as food or social contact) and we avoid things we know will harm us (such as faeces or predators).

We are all found somewhere on the approach-avoidant spectrum. Highly social people enjoy novel experiences and meeting strangers and will have a higher than average approach score, whereas others may feel aggression, suspicion and anxiety when confronted with surprises and strangers.

The new research suggests that these physiological and cognitive variations are likely to correlate with political preference.

Seems a little too neat to me. Are the "appetitive"/"aversive" systems actually real, or just a simple way of categorising lots of different responses to stimuli? I would suspect the latter.

Anyone read the actual study?
 
It's the mapping onto political parties that I find totally unconvincing. For example wanting tight border controls could be the last thing a very right wing i.e. conservative person wants (because they believe in a totally free market).
 
It's unconvincing because the political spectrum is not just a horizontal line. It makes a lot more sense to map it in two dimensions, with conservative-progressive on one axis, and authoritarian-libertarian on the other.

A highly conservative person doesn't like change. That has little to do with free markets, but does correspond with wanting to avoid other cultures (thus tight border controls).

Highly social people enjoy novel experiences and meeting strangers and will have a higher than average approach score, whereas others may feel aggression, suspicion and anxiety when confronted with surprises and strangers.
And yet many highly social people are 'conservative', while others who aren't identify as liberal. Another problem is that whole countries are well to the right or left of center. That cannot be due to innate animal behavior, it must be learned (ie. cultural).

Perhaps the "appetitive"/"aversive" response does correspond to some aspect of political preference, but it doesn't explain the whole spectrum of political identity - there must be other factors involved.
 

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