Political ideology predicts mood and emotion regulation. Examining potential pathways to key life outcomes

Previous research has identified importance differences in key life outcomes between political conservatives and liberals (e.g., happiness, academic success, involvement in crime). Potential mechanisms suggested in the literature have included self-control or personality traits that may systematically differ by political ideology. We preregistered plans to test for “dark” personality trait and self-control differences in political conservatives and liberals, with aims to replicate previously reported findings. We also examined differences in cognitive reflection style and emotion regulation. Three survey waves were obtained from an initial pool of U.S. participants (n=650 initial respondents, n=498 in Wave 2, n=402 in Wave 3) split roughly equally across political conservatives and liberals. We report a consistent null effect of political ideology on selfcontrol, and dark personality traits, in contrast to previous studies. Our data show higher cognitive reflection tendencies among those who are more politically liberal, consistent with past research. However, we report a previously unidentified difference emotional regulation styles, with conservatives reporting a healthier approach to emotion regulation via cognitive reappraisal strategies. Finally, a common mood elicitation in each of the three studies consistently reveals significantly more negative mood states among political liberals. Together, these findings suggest that mood and mood regulation may be a more important mechanism towards understanding preferred outcome differences in conservatives compared to liberals. Key Words: self-control, political ideology, individual differences, mood regulation, dark personality