Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: In a previous study of a balanced sample of 2947 participants in Southern California, we observed a strong correlation between the intensity of self-reported chills and political orientation, with more conservative participants reporting more intense chills (despite no difference in chills likelihood). We wish to perform a follow-up study to examine whether this correlation is due to religiosity (which frequently accompanies conservatism, particularly in the USA), and/or being among a cultural minority (conservative within a largely progressive/liberal context), by assaying matched populations in California (n=622) and Texas (n=261) with identical stimuli, and additionally examining religiosity. In a more exploratory fashion, we will also test for interoceptive awareness via the MAIA scale, as well as other possible explanatory variables for which we have less-defined hypotheses.