How pandemics affect our political brain

This week our host Rafael Behr is in conversation with Dr Leor Zmigrod about how cognitive science can help us understand how political identities are formed, and how people's ideological affiliations might affect how they respond to a national crisis.If you want to delve further into the topic Reader-friendly essaysZmigrod, L. (2019). The partisan brain: cognitive study suggests people on the left and right are more similar than they think. https://theconversation.com/the-partisan-brain-cognitive-study-suggests-people-on-the-left-and-right-are-more-similar-than-they-think-123578Zmigrod, L. (2018). Brexit: how cognitive psychology helps us make sense of the vote. https://theconversation.com/brexit-how-cognitive-psychology-helps-us-make-sense-of-the-vote-95031Relevant academic papersZmigrod, L. (2020). The Role of Cognitive Rigidity in Political Ideologies: Theory, Evidence, and Future Directions. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 34-39. See paper here.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.10.016Zmigrod, L., Ebert, T., Götz, F. M., & Rentfrow, J. (2020). The Psychological and Socio-political Consequences of Infectious Diseases. Retrieved from psyarxiv.com/84qcmTybur, J. M., Inbar, Y., Aarøe, L., Barclay, P., Barlow, F. K., De Barra, M., ... & Consedine, N. S. (2016). Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(44), 12408-12413 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607398113Murray, D. R., Schaller, M., & Suedfeld, P. (2013). Pathogens and politics: Further evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism. PloS One, 8(5). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062275Kim, H. S., Sherman, D. K., & Updegraff, J. A. (2016). Fear of Ebola: The influence of collectivism on xenophobic threat responses. Psychological Science, 27(7), 935-944. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616642596 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Politics on the Couch looks at the way our minds respond to politics and the way politicians mess with our minds. In each episode award-winning political columnist Rafael Behr is joined by a distinguished expert drawn from the world of politics, psychology or philosophy. The show will appeal to any listener interested in taking a deep dive into how psychology drives everyone's political thought and behaviour.For more information about host Rafael Behr - www.rafaelbehr.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.