Neural Correlates of Political Ideology and Inhibition

26 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2012 Last revised: 6 Sep 2012

See all articles by Dane G. Wendell

Dane G. Wendell

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Richard E. Matland

Loyola University Chicago

Robert Morrison

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

New research in political psychology increasingly suggests that political orientation may have a psychological and biological component. We seek to contribute to this research by exploring the role of inhibition in political orientation. Our project has two stages. First, we look for correlation between self-reported measures of political orientation and inhibitory behavioral motivation, using Gray’s theory of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). Second, we propose a behavioral task to corroborate our survey findings and advance beyond selfreported measures. The Go/No-Go task habituates participants into a frequent “Go” response but then infrequently introduces an unpredictable “No-Go” signal, requiring participants to quickly inhibit the habituated “Go” response. We will record behavioral data as well as electroencephalography, which is a measure of electrical signals from the brain. Using a stratified sample of strong liberals, strong conservatives, and consistent moderates we expect to find behavioral and neurocognitive differences between these three groups during the Go/No-Go task. This study builds on Amodio, Jost, Master, and Yee (2007), but includes multiple measures of political orientations and uses a non-student sample.

Suggested Citation

Wendell, Dane G. and Matland, Richard E. and Morrison, Robert, Neural Correlates of Political Ideology and Inhibition (2012). APSA 2012 Annual Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2105164

Dane G. Wendell (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Richard E. Matland

Loyola University Chicago ( email )

1032 W. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660
United States
773 508 7127 (Phone)
773 508 3131 (Fax)

Robert Morrison

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
171
Abstract Views
928
Rank
315,980
PlumX Metrics