Social scientists say conservative political viewscan be fueled by fear.A new study suggests that making people feel safe from harm can change theirstance on hot-button social issues.The new research gives insight into the role ofthe unconscious mind in the voting booth.Social scientists havelong known how to turn liberals into conservatives in the laball they have to do is scare them.Research has shown that you can make liberals more conservative by threatening them and making them somewhat afraid, Yale psychology professor John Bargh writes in his new book, Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do, which was released Tuesday.Several studies have shown that when social scientists getliberal-leaning experiment subjectsto think about their own deaths or make them feel threatened, some left-wingers adoptmore conservative values. This phenomenonplayed out after 9/11 researchers foundthat there wasa"very strongconservative shift" in the US afterthe attacks, withmore liberals supporting Republican President George W. Bush and favoringincreases in military spending.The hypothesissocial scientists developed about thiseffect is perhaps best summed up in a 2003 review of research on the subject: "People embrace political conservatism (at least in part) because it serves to reduce fear, anxiety, and uncertainty; to avoid change, disruption, and ambiguity; and to explain, order, and justify inequality among groups and individuals," it said.Theres evidence that this fear plays out in howconservative and liberal brains are shaped, too. Researchers have takenbrain images of people with different political leanings and found that thosewho self-identify as conservative have larger and more active right amygdalas,anarea of the brainassociated with theexpression and processing of fear.A2011 studylooked at MRI scans of self-described conservative young adultsand found they had more grey matter volume in the right amygdala than their liberal counterparts. In 2013, another team of scientists expanded that research to show thatconservativesgenerally have more activity in their right amygdala when taking risks than liberals do.But while inducing fear mightshift a liberal mindset, conservatives have generally beenmore difficult for social scientists to sway in experiments until now.In his new book, Bargh details two separate experiments that he conducted with his colleagues that swayedfolks who identified as conservativeto express more liberalattitudes.How They Did ItThe researchersbehind thepsychology experimenttolda group of participants to imaginethat they'd beengranted a superpower by a magic genieandweresuddenly as invincible as Supermanbullets bounced off them, fire couldn'tscorchtheir skin, and a fall from a cliff wouldnt hurt at all, Bargh writes in his book.The study'scontrol group was simply told to imagine they could fly.Then the researchers asked the participants to weigh in on some political statements, including whether they "would be reluctant to make any large-scale changes to the social order," and whether "its okay if some groups have more of a chance in life than others."Liberal participants' attitudes on social issues didn't shift at all. The conservative participants, on the other hand, started adopting more liberal views on social issues (though not economic ones.)Participants who imagined themselves withthe ability to fly had no change in their political views.The study authorssay this is some of the first experimental evidence that makingpeople feel completely safe can (temporarily) change their politics and make them more liberal.What Else Are We Doing Unconsciously'Bargh argues in his book that these results are but one example ofthe way humansare still living with the hard-won lessons of evolution.The fundamental drive for physical safety is a powerful legacy of our evolutionary pasthe writes. It exerts a pervasive influence on the mind as it navigates and responds to modern life, often in surprising ways like who you vote for. Barghs booksuggeststhat a myriad of unconscious influencesimpact our everyday decisions. Holding a cup of piping hot coffeecan make us friendlier,he suggests, becuase the association between physical warmth and social warmth is something we learned unconsciously asinfantswhen we were held close to a loved one's warm chest.In another study, Bargh showed how washinghands with soap and water can make people less hostile toindividuals who are different than they are. Bargh says that's because to some extent, our modern prejudices are shaped by the way we've evolved to avoid unknown, foreign threats like disease.In general, Bargh writes, people dont fully understand why we do what we do all of the time."We have one mind, and it can operate consciously and unconsciously,"he told Business Insider. But Bargh says that's generally not a bad thing. Hebelieves theunconscious forces at play are generally "on our side," since they help us get through the day withoutneeding to reason through every decision we make.SEE ALSO:Liberal colleges are recruiting conservative professors to 'stir up some trouble'Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: 'That hypocrisy is also real' ' Jon Stewart takes liberals to task for calling all Trump supporters racist
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