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Are Needs to Manage Uncertainty and Threat Associated With Political Conservatism or Ideological Extremity?

New York University, john.jost{at}nyu.edu

Jaime L. Napier

New York University

Hulda Thorisdottir

New York University

Samuel D. Gosling

University of Texas at Austin

Tibor P. Palfai

Boston University

Brian Ostafin

Boston University

Three studies are conducted to assess the uncertainty— threat model of political conservatism, which posits that psychological needs to manage uncertainty and threat are associated with political orientation. Results from structural equation models provide consistent support for the hypothesis that uncertainty avoidance (e.g., need for order, intolerance of ambiguity, and lack of openness to experience) and threat management (e.g., death anxiety, system threat, and perceptions of a dangerous world) each contributes independently to conservatism (vs. liberalism). No support is obtained for alternative models, which predict that uncertainty and threat management are associated with ideological extremism or extreme forms of conservatism only. Study 3 also reveals that resistance to change fully mediates the association between uncertainty avoidance and conservatism, whereas opposition to equality partially mediates the association between threat and conservatism. Implications for understanding the epistemic and existential bases of political orientation are discussed.

Key Words: uncertainty • threat • ideology • liberalism • conservatism • political orientation

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