Why are anti-abortion attitudes more prevalent among conservatives? Here we show that Polish Catholics who prioritize courage, deference to authority, and caring for kin over other moral qualities are more likely to oppose abortion and that these associations are mediated by conservatism. Our findings suggest that conservative opposition to abortion may be rooted in the concern that it is a cowardly way out of the predicament of unwanted pregnancy, that it challenges gender asymmetries, and that it goes against traditional family values. Surprisingly, we found that group loyalty, which is usually associated with conservatism, actually predicts pro-abortion attitudes among Poles, perhaps due to the fact that women's rights supporters have come to form an embattled coalition over the abortion issue. In two studies, we explored the mediating role of conservatism, teasing apart the effects of social dominance orientation and fusion with conservative religious ideology. These findings suggest that attitudes towards abortion are shaped by moral concerns and that they can potentially be recruited by political ideologies in ways that are shaped by particular social and historical contexts. Understanding these relationships between morality, ideology, and environment is crucial to managing the effects of polarization over potentially divisive social issues.

Despite the growing prevalence of research on Internet hate, little is still known about the psychological factors that differentiate those who are negatively affected by being subjected to Internet hate and those who are not affected at all or only to a small degree. In the present studies, we aimed to verify if resilience and self-esteem could be predictors of such responses. A total of 60 public figures (politicians, athletes, and artists; 46.7% women) and 1128 ordinary Internet users (25.1% women) participated in the study. Participants completed The Brief Resilience Scale, The Self-Esteem Scale, and The Internet Hate Concern Scale, which was created for this study, and determined how often they experience hate online. The results showed that the public figures experience Internet hate more often but were less concerned with it than the ordinary Internet users, who received online hate less often, but were more worried about it. In both groups, high self-esteem and high resilience were negative predictors of greater concern with received online hate. Our study is the first step to understanding what makes the difference between people who cope well and are not particularly concerned, and people who are greatly affected by received Internet hate.

Abstract. Why are antiabortion attitudes more prevalent among conservatives? We show that people who prioritize courage, deference to authority, and caring for kin are more likely to oppose abortion and that these associations are mediated by conservatism. However, group loyalty, which is usually associated with conservatism, surprisingly predicts proabortion attitudes. In two studies ( N = 525), we disambiguate the effects of social dominance orientation and fusion from conservative ideology. These findings suggest that attitudes toward abortion are shaped by moral concerns that are then recruited by political ideologies. Understanding the relationships between morality and political ideology is crucial to managing the effects of divisive social issues on polarization.

Aim. Using available data from previously published study the hypothesis that individuals with broader disease history are more conservative than those, who were infected less often in the past was tested. Methods. Publicly available database containing data regarding perceived vulnerability to disease, social conservatism and participant’s history of parasitic disease was accessed. In the study 9409 cases from 43 countries were analysed.  Results. When controlling for participant’s age, sex, education level, wealth and perceived infectability, it was found, that broader disease history was a significant predictor of social conservatism. Conclusions. Individuals, who were in the past infected with parasitic diseases more often, were observed to be more conservative than people, who had suffered from these diseases less often.