Social Psychologists Study Relationship Between Fear of Death, Political

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http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/spew4th.pl?ascribeid=20040728.133928&time=14%2002%20PDT&year=2004&public=1

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This research is based on the idea that reminders of death increase the need for psychological security and therefore the appeal of leaders who emphasize the greatness of the nation and a heroic victory over evil -- those with a charismatic leadership style. According to the authors -- social psychologists Sheldon Solomon (Skidmore College), Jeff Greenberg (University of Arizona in Tucson), and Tom Pyszczynski (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs) -- these findings suggest that arousing death-related fears can be an effective election strategy for President Bush and other leaders who emphasize the greatness of their own nation and the need to eradicate the threatening evil around us.

To test this hypothesis, Solomon, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski and their colleagues conducted an experiment that is scheduled to appear in the December 2004 issue of Psychological Science, published by the American Psychological Society.

For their current research, the scientists asked subjects to think about their own death or a control topic and then read campaign statements of three hypothetical political candidates, each with a different leadership style: charismatic, task-oriented, or relationship-oriented. Following a reminder of death, there was an almost 800 percent increase in votes for the charismatic leader, but no increase for the two other candidates.

The results of the study fueled more research. University of Arizona graduate student and lead author Mark Landau (a 1999 Skidmore College graduate) and Solomon, with colleagues from around the country, generated four studies that examined how reminders of death specifically influence evaluations of President Bush. Those results are due to be published this September in Personality and Social Science Bulletin. In those studies, reminders of death or the events of 9/11 dramatically increased support for President Bush and his policies regarding terrorists and Iraq.

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