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Does being agnostic and atheist make us less fearful?

I came across this article which prompted me to ask the question.

"A Study Made Conservatives Turn Liberal With a Thought Experiment - For a Little While"

[sciencealert.com]

It does seem, based on antidotal evidence, that agnostics and atheists tend to lean more to the center and left of center politically even when they have reasons to be fearful. There are exceptions, of course. Quoting from the article:

"Research has shown that you can make liberals more conservative by threatening them and making them somewhat afraid," Yale psychology professor John Bargh writes in his new book, "Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do," which was released Tuesday.

Several studies have shown that when social scientists get liberal-leaning experiment subjects to think about their own deaths or make them feel threatened, some left-wingers adopt more conservative values."

In another study noted in the article it states:

"People embrace political conservatism (at least in part) because it serves to reduce fear, anxiety, and uncertainty; to avoid change, disruption, and ambiguity; and to explain, order, and justify inequality among groups and individuals."

The article mentions findings in several studies showing that political conservatives tend to have increased gray matter volume in their right amygdala (associated with fear) --- that this part of the brain is more active than those leaning to the left.

In the experiment that turned conservatives into liberals they found:

"Liberal participants' attitudes on social issues didn't shift at all. The conservative participants, on the other hand, started adopting more liberal views on social issues (though not economic ones.)"

So, I'm thinking: if most agnostics and atheist tend to not have existential concerns, and not likely dominated by their amygdala, are we less likely to be influenced by fear and become more conservative?

This has not been the case with me (becoming more conservative), even though I've had reasons to be fearful, and I think we have much to be concerned about with regard to the state of the U.S. and elsewhere.

Taking all these mainstream studies into consideration, another thought I had was that deliberately promoting and/or creating fear and anxiety (like many authoritarian religions do) could be (and likely has been) a strategy used by those in power to turn more moderates and liberals into conservatives.

Generally speaking, do agnostics and atheists tend to be immune (for lack of a better word) to these influences?

VictoriaNotes 9 Feb 16
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27 comments (26 - 27)

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No ...word games are just that .....we Atheists/Agnostics are obviously fearless of hell threats heaven bribes with zero alleged deities to inflict alleged harm but most of us are most careful to avoid believers who are harmful perpetrators

@VictoriaNotes polling is highly skewed with false definitions and does not account for McCartthyism making Atheists fearsome of answering any question that OUTS THEM AS Atheists

@VictoriaNotes I agree with you and disagree that the Yale "study" made liberals turn conservative with fearsome suggestions

@VictoriaNotes American people are brainwashed by news media and pre-afraid of facts branded conspiracy theories. ...most refuse to consider 2 airplanes CANNOT POSSIBLY "melt" 3 WTC TOWERS 17 YEARS AGO. ...REFUSING TO THINK CRITICALLY is neither liberal nor fascist. ...Yale Study is seriously flawed

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I wouldn't actually know; I've always been a heathen, & I've always been rather sensitive to life's challenges. on the political scale I suppose I could take a place beyond the far left: I like the idea of anarchy in its basic definition, being "absence of government & freedom of the individual", also known as or leading to sovereignty of the people - under the best of conditions. I learn to live with my anxiety as I go through life.

The trouble is we're not small "herds" anymore. Masses need governance, safety rules.

@GoldenMean, we are what authority decides we should be. it is in the nature of the "herd". all i'm saying is that: in my heart i hold the notion of responsible, peaceful & friendly human beings, who still have the natural ability to function in community without the need of a higher power, that is so removed from their lives that everyone involved ends up more or less unhappy. i am not a herd animal, nor am i primarily one particle of any mass.

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