Who Knew? Extreme Adversity Can Make Us Extremists
Who would have thought it? Personal adversity builds extreme political views. According to newswise.com, stressful events are a catalyst for polarized beliefs. Why is that so? “Our results suggest that truly disrupting personal life experiences can lead to changes in liberal and conservative political attitudes, possibly permanently,” says Roxane Cohen Silver, UCI professor of psychology & social behavior and lead author of a study linking personal adversity with more firmly held opinions. Both the number of past stressful events and those occurring over the prior year consistently predicted more firmly held opinions, whether conservative or liberal. “We found that adults who experience a range of adverse events over their lifetimes, such as serious illness or a community disaster, are more likely to express extreme or polarized views on a variety of topics. This appears to be the case even when those topics, such as political opinions, have little or...