A new study presented by the journal Science reached the conclusion that easily startled people might be more oriented to a more politically conservative belief. The research was conducted by Rice University professor of political science John Alford and his colleagues, who studied 46 subjects, each with a strong political belief.

They were all subjected to several tests of startling stimuli and the results were compared to their political viewpoints. The subjects who recorded the biggest startle were a lot more likely to favor issues such as increased defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War. The ones who presented a more reserved response to the stimuli tended to support issues such as foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism and gun control.

The volunteers were shown a series of images including one with a very large spider standing on the face of a terrified person, another with a bloodied face and also a picture with an open wound filled with maggots. The responses received from the photos mentioned above were compared to the reactions received from viewing three placid pictures featuring a happy child, a bunny and a bowl of fruit. The conclusion reached was that the more conservative the political attitude was portrayed, the stronger the startle response was recorded.

These types of politically oriented studies have been going on for quite a while, reaching all sorts of conclusions. One test, for instance, showed that voters tend to favor attractive political candidates; another probed the way a subconscious attitude of a undecided voter can predict his final decision and also the manner voters answer poll questions can offer an insight on the depth of their commitment to a certain candidate.

"I was quite struck watching the conventions by the different tones," said co-author John Hibbing, a political scientist at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, about the recent Republican and Democratic conventions. "The Republicans are waving placards saying, 'country first.' Democrats are not saying, 'country last,' but there is a concern that is visceral in one group but not another." Mr. Hibbing is aware that physiology is just one of the many factors influencing a certain political view and from the beginning it was clear that the research will not deliver the ultimate answers when it comes to these matters.

"We are not saying if you sneak up on someone and say 'Boo!' and see how hard they blink, that tells you what their political beliefs are," Hibbing said. He added that the results should not be interpreted that liberals or conservatives are somehow bad for showing a more or less sensitive attitude to threats: "We could spin a story saying it is bad to be so jumpy, but you can also spin a story saying it is bad to be naive about threats," he said. "From an evolutionary point of view, an organism needs to respond to a threat or it won't be around for very long. We are not saying one response is more normal than another."