Extending voting rights through the Voting Rights Act halved both the number of instances of actual political violence and the likelihood of new waves of political violence, a new study reports.
People with strong moral and political convictions who saw images of protestors congruent to their own views showed activation in the brain's reward system. The study suggests violent acts in political protests can arise as a desire to act morally, rather than from bad intentions.
Researchers say access to exciting, non-violent alternatives may curb the impulse to embark in violence in the name of politics or religion.
