Objective reality is a source of accountability. Accountability is an obstacle to preserving, or restoring, the purity of the community, which last is paramount to "conservatism".
This is the kind of study that makes me distrust science. For one, the conclusion is blindingly obvious; for another, innumerable studies have already delineated the differences between the attitudes of conservatives and liberals. I fail to see the novelty or the usefulness of this work, and I'm concerned that throwing money at studies like this will only provide more ammunition for the anti-science types.