Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism

The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. in study 1,alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased,so did political conservatism (controlling for sex,education,and political identification). in study 2,participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts. in study 3,time pressure increased participants' endorsement of conservative terms. in study 4,participants considering political terms in a cursory manner endorsed conservative terms more than those asked to cogitate; an indicator of effortful thought (recognition memory) partially mediated the relationship between processing effort and conservatism. together these data suggest that political conservatism may be a process consequence of low-effort thought; when effortful,deliberate thought is disengaged,endorsement of conservative ideology increases. © 2012 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.