Relationship between NCAA Division I Football Support and Politics

The table above shows the relationship between a state's NCAA division I football attendance and which presidential candidate it supported in the 2008 election. Red states are those that supported the Republican candidate, blue states supported the Democratic candidate. Lighter blue states were "swing states" -- states that where the vote was close, but went for the Democratic candidate.

The attendance figure was calculated by dividing the total Division I football attendance for 2008 by the state's total population.

As the graph shows, there is a correlation between high attendance states, and support for the Republicans in the election.

It would seem likely that stronger conservative feelings of loyalty and authority contribute to support.

Population Growth & Economic Development

Matching emotional appeals to emotional context

Fear Or Romance Could Make You Change Your Mind, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (2009-03-24) -- New research suggests that the effectiveness of common persuasion tactics can be dramatically altered by two primal emotions -- fear and romantic desire. ... > read full article

Touching predicts purchase behavior

Buyer Beware: Touching Something In A Store Increases Perceived Ownership

ScienceDaily (2009-03-31) -- To avoid unwanted or unnecessary purchases, keep your hands off the goods. That's the conclusion of a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. ... > read full article

Future use preference differs from immediate use preference

Now Or Later? Consumer Product Evaluation Depends On Purchase Timing

ScienceDaily (2009-05-12) -- Let's say you planned to buy a new car at the end of the year. But then your car conks out and suddenly you need to make a purchase. A new study says you'll use different criteria to evaluate vehicles in that situation than you would if you planned to buy a car immediately but then had to postpone the purchase. ... > read full article

Abortion attitudes -- a barometer of conservative anxiety?

Recent polling has shown a dramatic increase then number of people saying they are against abortion. The increase has been most dramatic amongst whites -- particularly conservatives. Attitudes towards abortion haven't changed substantially amongst Democrats and Blacks.

This recent increase occurred after the election of Obama in November 2008; a similar spike in anti-abortion feelings occurred in 2001.

Could heightened stress from inter-group conflict -- terrorist attacks from Middle East, minorities being elected to the head of our government -- find its expression in greater angst about abortion? Abortion is an easy issue to declare your opposition to -- even those who agree with its need conceptually don't promote the behavior actively.

Its easy to have strong emotions about the killing of babies -- feelings that may not be dissimilar in strength to fears of other groups of people in threatening positions. Perhaps these inter-group fears are displaced and publicly presented in anti-abortion rhetoric.


read PEW Research poll here

read Gallup poll here

People Trust Extreme Positions More

Extreme Appeal: Voters Trust Extreme Positions More Than Moderate Ones, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (2008-08-08) -- Trying to appear moderate is not always the best strategy for capturing votes during an election, reveals a new study. Extreme positions can build trust among an electorate, who value ideological commitment in times of uncertainty. "A rational electorate is reluctant to support someone who does not exhibit commitment to some ideology," says USC economist Juan Carrillo. "Voters rightly perceive that someone without ideological commitment cannot have developed a valuable political program." ... > read full article