Motivated emotion and the rally around the flag effect: liberals are motivated to feel collective angst (like conservatives) when faced with existential threat

ABSTRACT

A careful look at societies facing threat reveals a unique phenomenon in which liberals and conservatives react emotionally and attitudinally in a similar manner, rallying around the conservative flag. Previous research suggests that this rally effect is the result of liberals shifting in their attitudes and emotional responses toward the conservative end. Whereas theories of motivated social cognition provide a motivation-based account of cognitive processes (i.e. attitude shift), it remains unclear whether emotional shifts are, in fact, also a motivation-based process. Herein, we propose that under threat, liberals are motivated to feel existential concern about their group’s future vitality (i.e. collective angst) to the same extent as conservatives, because this group-based emotion elicits support for ingroup protective action. Within the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, we tested and found support for this hypothesis both inside (Study 1) and outside (Study 2) the laboratory. We did so using a behavioural index of motivation to experience collective angst. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding motivated emotion regulation in the context of intergroup threat.

KEYWORDS:

• Liberal shift
• emotion
• collective angst
• motivation

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a European Research Commission grant [335607] to the last author, as well as a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant [435-2012-1135] to the third and last author. We would also like to thank the Harry and Sylvia Hoffman Leadership and Responsibility Programme as well as the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations for their support of the first author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 One participant was omitted from the analysis as he was not Jewish.

2 To determine sample size we used an online calculator (see: danielsoper.com). We assumed a small effect size due to our interaction prediction, and opted for standard power level.

3 Ten participants were omitted from the analyses either because they were not Jewish (n = 3), or because they did not finish the experiment (n = 7).

4 Gender was accidently omitted in this Study, and thus not reported.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a European Research Council Grant [335607] to the last author, as well as a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant [435-2012-1135] to the third and last author.