“Fearful people are more conservative. People who are scared of novelty, uncertainty, people they don’t know, and things they don’t understand, are more supportive of policies that provide them with a sense of surety and security,” said Professor Rose McDermot of Brown University, USA.
However, there is an anti-dote. Research has shown that despite a number of genetic, biological and developmental influences that affect fear emotions in individuals beter education can go someway to redress the balance.
This view is supported by Professor McDermot, who goes on to point out that education has a large positive influence on atitudes, behaviours and political preferences.
“Presenting a fear appeal more than doubles the probability of change,” said Professor Albarracin.
“Fear appeals are effective at changing atitudes, intentions and behaviours. There are very few circumstances under which they are not effective and there are no identifiable circumstances in which they backfire”.
Some people are genetically prone to fear and they respond most strongly to fear appeals, even at lower levels of threat.
Some people are genetically prone to fear
More highly educated individuals are more supportive generally of out-group atitudes. This is important where policies create anxiety-inducing out-groups, such as immigrants, war refugees or disability claimants, to justify cuting off social support to these groups. McDermot’s studies show that education has at least as large an effect on atitudes and political preferences as genetic disposition.
“The definition of unfamiliar may shiſt across time and location based on experience and education, and a genetically informed fear disposition is hardly permanent or fixed”, she said.
As the voting public become more aware, educated and skilled at observing and interpreting political fear appeals, these studies suggest the effectiveness of political manipulation based on fear messages and induced anxiety will be decreased.
February 2016 31
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