Results: The Cornerstones of a Conservative Attitude

This chapter deals with the results of an interview study investigating what means something preservable or conservable for multiple persons and how something preservable comes into being. As such, the chapter at hand draws on the results of thematic analysis paired with the inquiry of the Trajectory Equifinality Model that studies the pathways and decisions that lead to conservative actions. Here, I could find that the conservative tries to act upon the outer world mediated by specific ideal values and traditions he sets and inherits for himself/herself, while the conservative person also tends to preserve meaningful interaction in one’s family, in one’s circle of friends, and at work. For those interactions, the conservative-minded person tries to circumvent conflicts because s/he is aware of the developmental opportunities to be found in the constant interactions with its significant social other. Yet, the conservative-minded person is also aware of the dangers of looking at the world from a conservative viewpoint—meaning that the conservative person wants to set himself/herself limits when something preservable needs to be abandoned. Results from the extrospective viewpoint of the study could show further that conserving something is associated with positive emotions creating an emotional ground theme through which the person wants to continue interacting with the conservable object at hand.