The self-control consequences of political ideology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-7-2015
Abstract
Evidence from three studies reveals a critical difference in self-control as a function of political ideology. Specifically, greater endorsement of political conservatism (versus liberalism) was associated with greater attention regulation and task persistence. Moreover, this relationship is shown to stem from varying beliefs in freewill; specifically, the association between political ideology and selfcontrol is mediated by differences in the extent to which belief in freewill is endorsed, is independent of task performance or motivation, and is reversed when freewill is perceived to impede (rather than enhance) self-control. Collectively, these findings offer insight into the self-control consequences of political ideology by detailing conditions under which conservatives and liberals are better suited to engage in self-control and outlining the role of freewill beliefs in determining these conditions.
Publication Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume
112
Issue
27
First Page
8250
Last Page
8253
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1073/pnas.1503530112
PubMed ID
26100890
ISSN
00278424
E-ISSN
10916490
Citation Information
Clarkson, Chambers, J. R., Hirt, E. R., Otto, A. S., Kardes, F. R., & Leone, C. (2015). The self-control consequences of political ideology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 112(27), 8250–8253. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1503530112