ABSTRACT
Psychological and social scientists have long attempted to ground political orientation and related moral values in basic cognitive, affective and behavioural processes. This chapter argues that there is utility in differentiating among sensitivities to different kinds of threats. Moreover, it shows that sensitivities to different kinds of threats are associated with different political orientations and moral values; while sensitivities to some threats may very well be associated with conservatism, sensitivities to other threats may be associated with liberalism. The most influential recent account of the relationship between threat sensitivity and political orientation is by Jost. Consistent with the differentiated threat account, while disgust-related threat was positively associated with binding values, social evaluation threat was positively associated with individualizing values. Distinguishing between disgust-grounded specific phobic threats and social evaluation threats revealed that sensitivities to these different kinds of threats had opposing relationships with moral values and political orientation.
