Hibbing et al. refer to our findings (Kossowska & van Hiel Reference Kossowska and Van Hiel2003) that indicate a substantial dissociation between social-cultural conservatism and economic-hierarchical conservatism in western and post-socialist European countries, regardless of whether these constructs are classified as ideologically right-wing or left-wing. However, there is an even more important and universal dimension that is only incidentally mentioned in the target article: age differences in social-cultural conservatism (for a recent review and empirical evidence, see Cornelis et al. Reference Cornelis, van Hiel, Roets and Kossowska2009). Cross-sectional data have suggested a monotonic effect of age on social-cultural conservatism and the need for closure (Cornelis et al. Reference Cornelis, van Hiel, Roets and Kossowska2009). The consistent finding that older people tend to be more conservative than younger people has emerged in so many studies that the adult life-span perspective should be incorporated into Hibbing et al.'s proposed theoretical framework on sources of variation in political views.

The integration of political view variations with adult life-span perspective demands deeper consideration, as our recent work shows (Verhaeghen et al. Reference Verhaeghen, Martin and Sedek2012) that older adults' everyday life is governed by a multitude of compensatory mechanisms, most of which are social, emotional, and motivational in nature (see also Sedek & von Hecker Reference Sedek and von Hecker2004). Compensatory models of emotion regulation, such as the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and its further refinement in the form of the theory of strength and vulnerability integration (Carstensen Reference Carstensen2006; Charles & Carstensen Reference Charles and Carstensen2008; Reed & Carstensen Reference Reed and Carstensen2012), are highly relevant to the theoretical argument of the target paper. In our opinion, the implications of these models should evoke considerable doubt about the validity of the target article's central claim as it concerns the exact direction of the relationship between conservatism and negative bias. An increase in conservatism and a reduction in negative emotional experiences with age are consistent with each other, and both derive from compensatory models of emotion regulation. According to the SST, as the perceived time left in life changes, we should see a shift in priority between the two categories of goals (acquisition of knowledge and emotion regulation). From this perspective, it follows that conservatism increases with age; as compared with young adults, older adults are more focused on the short-term goal of optimizing psychological well-being rather than the long-term goal of preparing for the challenges ahead.

The positivity effect, which is grounded in the theoretical framework of SST, is an age-related preference for positive over negative stimuli in cognitive processing that is driven by chronically activated goals. From studies on this topic, we can conclude that older people are more attentive to and have a better memory for positive information than negative information (Reed & Carstensen Reference Reed and Carstensen2012; see also Carstensen Reference Carstensen2006). The special strengths related to present-oriented goals are found among older adults in the use of the emotion regulation strategies of deemphasizing negative emotions and emphasizing positive emotions. Reed and Carstensen (Reference Reed and Carstensen2012) show in their review that the research evidence is robust, as it is supported by a substantial body of data stemming from various experimental paradigms and stimuli types; the positivity effect among older adults has been found in studies on visual attention, working memory, short-term memory, autobiographical memory, false memories, and decision making. We notice a clear incompatibility between predictions from the adult life-span perspective on the relationship between negative bias and conservatism and the predictions formulated in the target article. More precisely, Hibbing et al.'s theoretical model creates a false prediction from this developmental perspective because increased conservatism in the adult life-span trajectory is accompanied by avoidance of negative bias, which suggests that the relationship is opposite to that presented in the target article.

Interestingly, some other aspects of the target paper on the relationship between conservatism and an increased need for closure are supported from this developmental perspective. Aging not only increases conservative views but also strongly increases scores on the need for closure (Kossowska et al. Reference Kossowska, Hanusz, Trejtowicz, Marek, Karwowski, Frankowicz, Kantola and Zgaga2014). This is especially true for two of the need-for-closure subscales: intolerance of ambiguity and closed-mindedness. Older people may want closure out of concern for ambiguity-avoidance or from a desire to stick to their own knowledge, belief, or opinion. Older adults may conserve resources by simplifying their interactions with the environment and limiting both the quantity and complexity of information to which they attend. This may be manifested as a reliance on highly routinized and schematic cognitive and behavioral patterns rather than the construction of new and perhaps more adaptive approaches on the spot. It is therefore possible that for older adults, the need for closure, especially intolerance of ambiguity and closed-mindedness, may be related to a variety of strategies that facilitate the effort to maintain closure. One such strategy is adherence to certain ideologies, as they have a potent knowledge structure that contains established ways of viewing the world and reduces feelings of uncertainty. In this specific context, the model proposed by Hibbing et al. may be true: Ideological beliefs may be related to negative emotions as the source of the need for closure, whereas feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity are related to ideological beliefs. However, as older adults are mainly motivated to seek closure, they may also search more for positive rather than negative information because being in a positive mood allows them to successfully achieve closure (Kossowska et al. Reference Kossowska, Jasko, Bar-Tal and Szastok2012). Thus, although the need for closure (and ideological beliefs) may be related to negative emotions, positive emotional states allow older adults to achieve closure and reduce uncertainty.

To summarize, we suggest the necessity for a deeper integration of the adult life-span perspective with roots of variations in the political views theoretical model, as the current version of Hibbing et al.'s model presented in the target article is inconsistent with the existing data on emotion regulation (i.e., deemphasizing orientation to negative stimuli) and increase of conservatism over the span of adulthood.