In the first study to directly link politics and physiology, the University of Nebraska led study suggests that people who hold conservative views on things like foreign policy and gun control, are more frightened than those with a more left-leaning bent on those issues. "We're not trying to say that your church and your family and your school and the people you hang out with don't matter," More.. says Doug Oxley, the lead study author. "What we're introducing to the field of political science is this notion that there is a physical basis to these beliefs as well." In the study, 46 volunteers were asked about their political views on such hot button issues as immigration and gun control, which have a strong correlation to voting booth behaviour. Researchers then measured the strength of the study subjects' "startle reflexes" through the strength of their blink responses and electrical activity on their skin when confronted with startling images or noises. The study found that people who held more "protective" views on theses issues - those who would limit immigration or prefer a more unfettered right to be armed - had stronger startle reflexes to the stimuli. Less..