Conservatism is good for you: Cultural conservatism protects self-esteem in older adults

Abstract

The present research explores whether adhering to cultural conservative beliefs elevates self-esteem in older people. In a sample of 311 retired persons it was found that conservatism was positively related to self-esteem, and that this relationship was especially strong in the oldest age group. Statistical control for narcissism did not undermine this moderation effect between age and conservatism on self-esteem. In the discussion, we argue that conservatism among older people seems to go together with a focus on putting personal history in social-cultural context. Conservatism and self-esteemFirst copyedit complete. IntroductionAn assumption common to lay persons is that older people tend to be more conservative (e,g., Glenn, 1974), with each new generation becoming less tolerant as it grows older. Many studies have indeed shown a shift towards increased conservatism and right-wing political preferences in older age (e.g., Cornelis, Van Hiel, Roets, & Kossowska, 2009; Truett, 1993; Wilson, 1973). More specifically, older people show higher levels of cultural conservatism, exhibiting increased resistance to change, which encompasses the endorsement of traditional values, social rules and norms, as opposed to the freedom to arrange one's individual life as one sees fit. Most studies on right-wing beliefs tend to focus on negative outcomes, like deficient cognitive style and threat proneness (see, Jost et al., 2003), and these studies thus do not seem to be particularly informative to answer the question what can be gained from right-wing beliefs. Moreover, despite the observation that older people are more conservative, not many studies on right-wing beliefs have focused on samples of the elderly.One of the few studies including a sample of older individuals was conducted by Van Hiel and De Clercq (2009). They reported that authoritarianism is a buffering factor for stress, and particularly that increased levels of authoritarianism (as opposed to those showing lower levels of authoritarianism) curb the impact of negative life-events on health outcomes. One of the explanations offered by these authors for this beneficial effect of authoritarianism was According to this theory, people cope with the anxiety engendered by the awareness of their own death by adhering to the dominant views in a given society, that is, by adopting and fulfilling the norms and values of one's culture. In sum, adherence to one's culture -as may be reflected by right-wing beliefs -thus provides meaning, organization and continuity to life, which might enable people to cope not only with one's own death, but also with negative lifeevents (Van Hiel & De Clercq, 2009).Importantly for the present study, TMT also stresses the role of self-esteem in coping with one's own death, either as a buffer for this anxiety, or as a coping mechanism. Hence, according to TMT, then, compliance with cultural values enhances one's self-esteem. These observations align well with the idea that self-esteem is construed within a social context. Leary (...

Right–Wing Authoritarianism: Protective Factor against Or Risk Factor for Depression?

“…In line with a match perspective that states that the relation between values and attitudes on the one hand and well‐being on the other hand depends on the match between people's values and the values that are emphasized within their social environment (Sagiv & Schwartz, ), this study suggests that the effects of authoritarianism might be moderated by the degree to which these beliefs are supported by the social environment. A similar argument was made by Van Hiel and Brebels () in a study on conservative ideology and self‐esteem. Although Van Hiel and Brebels () argue that this relation becomes more positive with increasing age, they admit that, on the basis of their cross‐sectional data, they cannot rule out the alternative interpretation that their age‐related findings reflect cohort effects instead.…”

“…Finally, Study 3 examined whether the direct association of authoritarianism with depression as observed in Study 2 is moderated by the social environment, as has been argued previously (e.g. Peterson & Duncan, ; Sagiv & Schwartz, ; Van Hiel & Brebels, ). In particular, in line with previous research (Peterson & Duncan, ), using a high school student sample, Study 3 examined whether the authoritarianism–depression relation is moderated by the level of authoritarianism in the family of origin.…”

“…So far, only one study investigated this relationship (Van Hiel & De Clercq, ), and as already mentioned, this study relied on a small sample. Third, Study 1 intended to examine whether the possible moderating role of authoritarianism in the relation between D‐type personality and depression is itself moderated by age, as suggested by Van Hiel and Brebels ().…”

Cultural Alienation in the Ageing Person

“…Where psychologists and social scientists have studied age in the area of changes in cognition, emotions, social attitudes and behaviour, lesser attention has been put in exploring the relationship between age and cultural changes taking place as life progresses. However, those who have investigated age-related changes suggest that ageing beyond adolescence leads to adoption of more conservative views (e.g., Eaton et al, 2009;Glenn, 1974;Sears, 1981;Van Hiel & Brebels, 2011) meaning that values, norms and beliefs become more resistant to change (Jost, 2006 Several major psychological hypotheses have been proposed in relation to age and susceptibility to attitude change (see Inglehart & Baker, 2000;Visser & Krosnick, 1998). At first, the increasing persistence hypothesis suggests that people become more resistant to change while they grow older for their attitudes turn out more established and fixed.…”

“…In particular, this study focuses on a group of Bulgarian elderly people including female and male participants, in order to explore this phenomenon. Although many studies have examined people's attitudes at different stages of their lives (e.g., Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006;Faden & German, 1994), a few have focused on investigating patterns of ageing and their relation to cultural interests (e.g., Eaton, Visser, Krosnick, & Anand, 2009;Glenn, 1974;Sears, 1981;Van Hiel & Brebels, 2011). In that sense, this study aims at finding out the extent to which older individuals change their cultural attitudes with regards to openness to experience, referring to the individual's propensity to be open to a variety of new things (see Roberts, Robins, Trzesniewski, & Caspi, 2003).…”