title: The self-control consequences of political ideology.
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 self-control 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.
authors.affiliation: Marketing Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221; joshua.clarkson@uc.edu.
authors.forename: Joshua J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Clarkson
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63103;
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405;
authors.forename: Edward R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Hirt
authors.affiliation: Marketing Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221;
authors.forename: Ashley S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: Marketing Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221;
authors.forename: Frank R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Kardes
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D009042:Motivation; D011057:Politics; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: freewill beliefs; individual differences; political ideology; self-control