ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a compelling and enjoyable ride through the recent advances in one of the most exciting new fields in academia – political physiology. Aristotle and Plato provided some of the first recorded discussions of how biology influences political behaviour as far back as 400 BC, reflecting the role of hedonism in shaping our day-to-day decisions and actions. In physiological terms, ‘the aversive in life appears to be more physiologically and cognitively tangible to some people and they tend to gravitate to the political right’. Political physiology offers a timely and fascinating support to the words of Washington and Adams, explaining the evolutionary and physiological bases for their concerns. Research using skin conductance and self-report measures support this idea, particularly in relation to a marked disgust bias amongst conservative ideologues, with researchers stating that ‘it is quite remarkable that involuntary physiological responses to non-political stimuli exert such an effect’.
