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Political ideology is contextually variable and flexible rather than fixed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2014

G. Scott Morgan
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Drew University, Madison, NJ 07940. smorgan@drew.eduhttps://sites.google.com/site/gscottmorgan3/
Linda J. Skitka
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7137. lskitka@uic.eduhttp://tigger.uic.edu/~lskitka/index.htmldwisne2@uic.eduhttps://sites.google.com/a/uic.edu/daniel-wisneski
Daniel C. Wisneski
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7137. lskitka@uic.eduhttp://tigger.uic.edu/~lskitka/index.htmldwisne2@uic.eduhttps://sites.google.com/a/uic.edu/daniel-wisneski

Abstract

Hibbing et al. argue that the liberal–conservative continuum is (a) universal and (b) grounded in psychological differences in sensitivity to negative stimuli. Our commentary argues that both claims overlook the importance of context. We review evidence that the liberal–conservative continuum is far from universal and that ideological differences are contextually flexible rather than fixed.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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