ideology
Definition
Ideology refers to systems of political beliefs and values that individuals adopt and that structure their thinking about governance, rights, and social organization. Future anxiety, characterized by pessimism and uncertainty about the future, is associated with ideological positioning; notably, among young men, future anxiety correlates with shifts toward right-conservative ideological self-classification, whereas emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal can moderate these associations.
Sources: Borghi et al. (2025)
Related Terms
Applications
Ideology and Future Anxiety
Future anxiety—feelings of pessimism and uncertainty about what lies ahead—shows significant associations with political ideology among young people. In particular, among young men in both the UK and Greece, future anxiety was associated with a shift toward right-conservative ideological self-classification, whereas this pattern did not emerge among young women.
Sources: Borghi et al. (2025)
Ideology and Emotion Regulation
Cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, moderates the relationship between future anxiety and ideological positions. For youth low in cognitive reappraisal, future anxiety showed associations with more authoritarian ideological positions, whereas these associations became weaker or nonsignificant for those scoring high in cognitive reappraisal.
Sources: Borghi et al. (2025)
Ideology and Actively Open-minded Thinking
Future anxiety may influence ideological thinking, potentially affecting open-minded approaches to information processing.
Sources: Borghi et al. (2025)
