POWER OF


FEAR


by Fiona Nicholson, Science Writer


P


ROJECT FEAR is not only real, it is a scientifically proven tactic used the world over to influence election results, claims new research.


According to a comprehensive review of over 50 years of research on the topic, published by the American Psychological Association, politicians use fear to deliberately raise anxiety in voters in order to manipulate reactions.


Fear messages are a potent weapon to hi-jack the votes of people who are genetically inclined to be more anxious. This trait anxiety has been found to be more common among women. As anxiety rises, people generally harden their atitudes, becoming more reactionary towards controversial topics.


It’s a view shared by Dr Jonathan Renshon of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He claims anxiety from any source can be so powerful that participants can’t easily switch off and instead transfer their fear to other areas of life including politics, particularly promoting negative atitudes to controversial topics such as immigration.


The use of fear appeals by politicians is one means by which they raise anxieties in prospective voters to produce a reactionary response to novel policies and ideas promoted by their opponents.


Fear appeals suggest harm will befall the voter if they do not heed the politician’s message and recommendations. For example, some politicians suggested pensions


Fear messages are a potent weapon to hi-jack the votes of people who are genetically inclined to be more anxious


would not be safe if there was a YES vote during the Scotish independence referendum in 2014.


As a result more people of pensionable age voted against Scotland being independent than their younger counterparts even though pensions have been adversely affected by austerity measures in spite of the successful No vote.


During the referendum campaign many Scots expressed surprise at the sheer volume and naivety of the fear messages generated by the Beter Together’s self-labelled Project Fear.


According to psychology Professor Dolores Albarracin of the University of Illinois, fear appeals are most effective when used to promote recommendations for a one-off occasion such as a referendum rather than for repetitive events. They are also more effective when the target audience is comprised of a sizeable percentage of women, and if they contain advice on how to counter the threat, ie.. ‘vote no’.


February 2016 29 Lenin


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