Story perspectives

Conservatives Prefer Addictive Products; Mindset Shifts Influence Choices

6/19/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers found U.S. conservatives favor addictive products more than liberals, a pattern that held in samples of 454,737 UK adults and 124,976 U.S. Yelp reviews.
Inducing a conservative mindset increased lottery ticket purchases and intent to repurchase alcohol.
Boosting sense of agency made liberals rate smoking and vaping like conservatives, while threat messages lowered conservatives’ favorable views of smoking, vaping, and gambling in Canadian (n=446) and U.S. (n=452) samples.

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Story summary

Researchers found U.S. conservatives favor addictive products more than liberals, a pattern that held in samples of 454,737 UK adults and 124,976 U.S. Yelp reviews.
Inducing a conservative mindset increased lottery ticket purchases and intent to repurchase alcohol.
Boosting sense of agency made liberals rate smoking and vaping like conservatives, while threat messages lowered conservatives’ favorable views of smoking, vaping, and gambling in Canadian (n=446) and U.S. (n=452) samples.