are similar in thought because they are both conservative. Conservatism "solves" problems for people with particular types of personal and social needs.
A 2003 meta-analysis of 88 published studies on conservatism was published by a group of researchers who were psychologists and sociologists at leading American academies: “Political conservatism as motivated social cognition” Psychological Bulletin vol 129, pp 339-375.
Within those studies they found the following correlates between theories about how people resolve situations of personal need/psychological distress and conservatism. The r-values are a statistic that reflects the strength of a correlation through the magnitude of the number with 1 and -1 being the endpoints of the scale. You'll note that they aren't tremendously large r values of the sort one would find in a manufacturing process. But these ranges are common in studies of complex social behavior. Moreover, while many conservative groups in America share these correlates, not all of the groups, or all their members do in a particularly strong way. But there is a pattern that you will recognize in both rightwing American political conservatism and American religious fundamentalism, and it very likely contributes to our stereotypical view of conservatism:
death anxiety (r =.50)
system stability (r = .47)
intolerance to ambiguity ( r =.34)
openness to experience (r=-.32) (suggesting closed mindedness to experience)
uncertainty tolerance (r=-.27) (suggesting a desire/need for certainty more than doubt)
needs for order/structure/closure (r=.26)
integrative complexity (r=-.20) (suggesting conservatism prefers simple answers)
fear of threat and/or loss (r=.18) (a very popular political tool in the past decade)
self-esteem (r=-.09)
Bottom line: American political conservatism is probably really NOT a religion. But, because conservatives share basic world views and psychological needs, right wing American conservatism is populated by American Christian protestant fundamentalists. Unsurprisingly, conservatives flock together. American political conservatives pander to fundamentalist religious members and right wing religious leaders push solutions to personal and social problems onto conservative politics.
And something to think about...the writers of the series "The Power of Nightmares" argue that the need to deal with these correlates to psycho-social needs was present in BOTH American Neoconservatives and Islamic fundamentalists in the years leading up to 9/11.
Here is a link to Power of Nighmares Part I.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2798679275960015727
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