Suchergebnisse

This paper introduces a novel framework for understanding the relationship between implicit and explicit preferences and political cognition. Existing work in political psychology focuses primarily on comparing the main effects of implicit versus explicit attitude measures. This paper rethinks the role of implicit cognition by acknowledging the correspondence between implicit and explicit preferences (i.e., the distance between implicitly and explicitly measured attitudes). Data from the 2008 American National Election Study are used to examine implicit racial ambivalence, or the gap between one's implicit and explicit racial preferences, as it exists in the United States. Results indicate implicit racial ambivalence, which has been shown to yield effortful thinking related to race, is negatively related to education and Need for Cognition, and predicts race-related policy attitudes as well as vote choice in the 2008 election. Furthermore, implicit ambivalence moderates the influence of ideology on political attitudes, including attitudes toward outcomes that are only covertly related to race and cannot be predicted directly by implicit or explicit racial attitudes alone.

AbstractThis is a registered report for a study of racial and ethnic variation in the relationship between negativity bias and political attitudes. Pioneering work on the psychological and biological roots of political orientation has suggested that political conservatism is driven in large part by enhanced negativity bias. This work has been criticized on several theoretical fronts, and recent replication attempts have failed. To dig deeper into the contours of when (and among whom) negativity bias predicts conservatism, we investigate a surprisingly overlooked factor in existing literature: race and ethnicity. We propose that political issues represent threat or disgust in different ways depending on one's race and ethnicity. We recruited 174 White, Latinx, and Asian American individuals (in equal numbers) to examine how the relationship between negativity bias and political orientation varies by race/ethnicity across four domains: policing/criminal justice, immigration, economic redistribution, and religious social conservatism.

This article examines how disease salience influences attitudes toward two types of humanitarian aid: sending foreign aid and housing refugees. Some have argued that disease salience increases levels of out-group prejudice through what is referred to as the behavioral immune system (BIS), and this increase in out-group prejudice works to shape policy attitudes. However, an alternative mechanism that may explain the effects of disease salience is contamination fear, which would suggest there is no group bias in the effects of disease threat. Existing work largely interprets opposition to policies that assist out-groups as evidence of out-group prejudice. We suggest it is necessary to separate measures of out-group animosity from opinions toward specific policies to determine whether increased out-group prejudice rather than fear of contamination is the mechanism by which disease salience impacts policy attitudes. Across two experiments, disease salience is shown to significantly decrease support for humanitarian aid, but only in the form of refugee support. Furthermore, there is converging evidence to suggest that any influence of disease salience on aid attitudes is not caused by a corresponding increase in xenophobia. We suggest that the mechanism by which disease threat influences policy attitudes is a general fear of contamination rather than xenophobia. These findings go against an important hypothesized mechanism of the BIS and have critical implications for the relationship between disease salience and attitudes toward transnational policies involving humanitarian aid.

This study assesses the extent to which individual levels of trust in foreigners relate to preferences about regional transnational policies. We use a nationally representative survey from Mexico (2003), an emerging democracy with relatively high levels of nationalism and several multinational trade agreements. We argue that clarifying the target of social trust is essential for understanding the attitudes of citizens of less powerful countries toward the international policy realm. Statistical analysis strongly suggests that in fact trust in foreigners, above generalized trust, is key to understanding such attitudes. Our results indicate that trust in foreigners among Mexican respondents is positively associated with support for open immigration policies, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and political union with the United States.

Rationale Stressful life events are suggested to contribute to the development of various pathologies, such as cardiovascular disorders, whose etiopathogenesis is highly associated with elevated levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) proteins. SAA synthesis inthe liver isregulated bya complex network ofcytokines actingindependently orinconcert withvarious hormones/stimulants including the stress-activated sympathetic nervous system. Objective This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms that regulate the stress-induced hepatic synthesis of SAA, with particular focus on adrenoceptors (AR), major components of the sympathoadrenal response to stress. Methods and results We demonstrated that repeated stress elevates IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα serum levels in mice, accompanied by increased synthesis and secretion of hepatic SAA1/2 and SAA3, an effect that was blocked by AR antagonists. Moreover, stimulation ofα1- andβ1/2-ARsmimics thestress effectonSAA1/2 regulation, whereas α2-AR stimulation exhibitsa relatively weakimpactonSAA.InsupportoftheessentialcytokinecontributionintheAR-agonistinducedSAAproductionisthefactthat theanti-inflammatorydrug,sodiumsalicylate,preventedtheAR-stimulatedhepaticSAA1/2synthesisbyreducingIL-1βlevels, whereasIL-1βinhibitionwithAnakinramimicsthissodiumsalicylatepreventiveeffect,thusindicatingacrucial rolefor IL-1β. Interestingly, the AR-driven SAA3 synthesis was elevated by sodium salicylate in a TNFα-dependent way, supporting diverse and complex regulatory roles of cytokines in SAA production. In contrast to α1/α2-AR, the β1/2-AR-mediated SAA1/2 and SAA3 upregulation cannot be reversed by fenofibrate, a hypolipidemic drug with anti-inflammatory properties. Conclusion Taken together, these findings strongly support a critical role of the AR-stimulated inflammatory response in the hepatic SAA production under stressful conditions, highlighting distinct AR type-specific mechanisms that regulate the hepatic synthesis of SAA1/2 and SAA3. ; This research was supported by the European Union ...