Fear & voting
2004-07-30 18:55:56.102958+00 by
Dan Lyke
3 comments
Study: Fear shapes voters' views:
Greenberg, Solomon and colleagues then decided to test the idea further
and set up four separate studies at different universities.
"In one we asked half the people to think about the September 11 attacks,
or to think about watching TV," Solomon said. "What we found was staggering."
When asked to think about television, the 100 or so volunteers did not
approve of Bush or his policies in Iraq. But when asked to think about
Sept. 11 first and then asked about their attitudes to Bush, another 100
volunteers had very different reactions.
"They had a very strong approval of President Bush and his policy in
Iraq," Solomon said.
Also, do some searches on these guy's names with the string "terror management theory", something they came up with back in 1986. Fascinating.
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comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2004-08-02 02:00:53.402662+00 by:
Larry Burton
So, does this mean that Kerry ought to try to get people to think about television?
Actually, I see nothing wrong with a candidate using this knowledge in preparing the strategy for their campaign. It's the voters that need to educate themselves to keep things like this from swaying them.
#Comment Re: made: 2004-08-02 16:24:56.944195+00 by:
baylink
Has anyone here read Thomas Perry's "Metzger's Dog"?
#Comment Re: made: 2004-08-02 19:16:53.881916+00 by:
Shawn
[edit history]
I have a problem with the idea of a campaign, though. As far back as high-school (where I held a couple of offices) I recognized that the skill set that best wins a campaign has precious little to do with the skill set required to be an effective leader. Further evidence during my working life has only served to solidify that perception: salespeople seldom [automagically] make good managers.
The elderly should also educate themselves and not be frightened out of their money by scammers, yet we still send those scammers to jail.