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ObjectiveThe impact of cognitive function and decline on political ideology is unknown. We studied the relationship between cognition and both political orientation and political policy choices in a population of older persons.DesignLongitudinal investigation.SettingA retirement community and its surroundings in Southern California.Participants151 members of a longitudinal investigation of aging and dementia in the oldest-old (the 90+ Study), mean age 95 years.MeasurementsParticipants self-reported their political ideology (7-point scale from extremely liberal to extremely conservative) and policy preferences for federal spending on public schooling, aid to the poor, and protecting the environment, as well as on preferences on immigration rates, death penalty, and university admission. The same political survey was mailed to participants twice: at time one and 6-months later. Cognitive function based on neurological examination and cognitive testing was classified as normal (55%), cognitive impairment/not dementia (CIND) (33%), or dementia (12%). We calculated rank correlations between ideology and policy choices, stratified by cognitive status, and agreement between Surveys 1 and 2.ResultsPolitical ideology/orientation was highly consistent over a six-month period (84% agreement) among the 122 who returned the second survey, with no significant relationship to cognitive status. Among cognitively impaired (CIND and dementia), however, there was significant loss of consistency between an individual's political orientation and their policy choices. Level of political engagement was high for participants, with more than 90% voting in the 2016 presidential election.ConclusionIn this population of older persons, political identification on the liberal-conservative spectrum was resilient despite cognitive decline, but its meaning and function were changed. For the cognitively impaired it remained a self-defining label, but no longer operated as a higher order framework for orienting specific policy preferences. There appeared to be loss of coherence between the political orientation and political policy choices of cognitively impaired individuals. Given the high level of political engagement of these individuals, these results have substantial public policy implications.

OBJECTIVE: The impact of cognitive function and decline on political ideology is unknown. We studied the relationship between cognition and both political orientation and political policy choices in a population of older persons. METHODS: Participants were members of a longitudinal investigation of aging and dementia in the oldest-old and resided in a retirement community or its surroundings in Southern California. We analyzed 151 individuals, mean age 95 years, for political ideology and policy choices in relation to their cognitive status. The same political survey was mailed to participants twice: at time one and 6-months later. Self-identified political ideology/orientation was rank ordered from liberal (scored as 1) to conservative (scored as 7), and cognitive function was classified as normal (55%), cognitive impairment/not dementia (CIND) (33%), or dementia (12%). Political policy choices on six issues received scores ranging from liberal to conservative, and we calculated rank correlations between ideology and policy choices. RESULTS: Political ideology/orientation was highly consistent over a six-month period (84% agreement) among the 122 who returned the second survey, with no significant relationship to cognitive status. Among cognitively impaired (CIND and dementia), however, there was significant loss of consistency between an individual's political orientation and their policy choices. Level of political engagement was high for participants, with more than 90% voting in the most recent presidential election. CONCLUSIONS: In this population of older persons, political identification on the liberal-conservative spectrum was resilient despite cognitive decline, but its meaning and function were changed. For the cognitively impaired it remained a self-defining label, but no longer operated as a higher order framework for orienting specific policy preferences. There appeared to be loss of coherence between the political orientation and political policy choices of cognitively impaired individuals. Given ...

"Political Psychology, Cognition, and Foreign Policy Analysis" published on by Oxford University Press.

Field methods are used to investigate the immediate reactions of students attending a campus pol'al demonstration. Supporters of the demonstration believed that the event was concerned with a number of issues: local, nat'l, & even internat'l. They tended to believe that demonstrators had a number of goals, some of which were expressive. They identified the demonstrators in such a way as to avoid numerically limiting the group & to express their favorable reaction to it. Typically, the beliefs of demonstration opponents were quite diff. They tended to believe that the demonstration was primarily concerned with local issues & tended to see the demonstrators working toward rather immediate, instrumental goals which they (the opponents) felt were not likely to be reached. They labeled the demonstrators in ways suggesting the limited support of the group & expressing their own disapproval. Opponents emphasized that the demonstration was quite likely to have consequences which were opposite those which the demonstrators themselves desired. The cognitive consistency model is used to explain these diff's in belief systems. AA.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Taking a Piagetian Point of View -- 2. Attitude, Belief, and Ideology: The Need for New Directions -- 3. Genetic Epistemology: A Piagetian Analysis of Political Thought -- 4. The Structure of the Idea of Democracy in Eastport -- 5. Types of Thought and Forms of Political Reasoning: A Neo-Piagetian Analysis -- 6. A Piagetian Developmental Theory of Political Institutions -- 7. Power and Political Consciousness -- Appendix: Piaget's Use of Egocentrism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

A survey of 500 residents in the Richmond area during the 1988 presidential campaign finds that, like exposure to political information in the news media, political conversations with others lead to much learning, controlling for effects of education, gender, political interest and media use. The study reminds us of the importance of other people in the political learning process.