After hearing John Dean give a lecture on his book Conservatives without Conscience, I ran into this research which seems to relate to why, from a physiological standpoint, some people may find following an authoritarian leader satisfying. Indeed, for some people with poor heart period variability, it may be absolutely necessary follow authoritarian leaders, to avoid the stress of "flip floppers" and thereby avoid serious health problems associated with those whose heart rates do not return to healthy variability after experiencing stress. John Dean pointed out that authoritarian followers tend to be Republicans and evangelicals. If these people can be trained to have healthy stress recovery, they may be "cured" and could embrace progressive viewpoints that would be too stressful otherwise.
Title | Neurovisceral Integration: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Health |
Publisher | Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, NIA |
Author | Julian F. Thayer, Ph.D. |
Pub Date | 2001-12-21 |
Media Link | http://videocast.nih.gov/launch.asp?11251 |
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Note | This is a very technical video that may explain why authoritarian personalities exist |
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Media Type | Video |
Media Group | News |
Curator Rating | Plain |
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