Scarily coming to the center: Political centrism as an effect of mortality salience
and a need for closure
Carlos Alberto Rivera-García and Philip J. Cozzolino
University of Essex
Two studies assessed the relationship between need for closure (NFC;
Kruglanski, Webster, & Klem, 1993) and evaluations of political ideology changes, as a
function of mortality salience (MS). Based on terror management theory (Greenberg,
Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) and previous research (e.g., Cozzolino, 2006; Jost et al.,
2003), we hypothesized that abstract reminders of death would activate the facet of NFC
that seeks group consensus and stability (as opposed to deviation and persuasion).
Following an MS or control induction, 161 participants evaluated politicians who
switched political ideologies (moved from the left to the right). In line with recent
research (Fu et al., 2007), results indicate that MS induced people high in NFC to express
greater support for politicians seeking consensus in the political center, compared to
politicians endorsing liberal or conservative ideologies, an effect consistent with research
linking NFC to desires for group centrism and collective closure.
A second study (N= 122) clarified this issue further with participants evaluating
political parties (rather than individual politicians) that were depicted as moving from
their traditional left/right positions toward the political center in one condition, or
parties that remained true to their traditional ideologies in a second condition. Results
revealed that participants high in NFC exposed to MS expressed significantly higher
levels of support for parties moving from the extreme right to the center, than for
parties moving from the extreme left to the center. Full results from both studies will be
presented, along with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.