Conservatives vs liberals: Sure, they have different beliefs - but do they also have
different personalities?
Hey guys Tara here for Dnews - and if you live in America, then you know one of the
biggest sources of tension in our country - is the political divide between conservatives
and liberals.
You might think it’s a matter of simple politics - but studies are now showing that
fundamental psychological differences could explain why someone leans left or right.
In this month’s issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, there’s an interesting discussion
surrounding a study that was done by Dr. John Hibbing, which found that conservatives have
an implicit negativity bias that might explain their political leanings.
Over the past few years, Hibbing has been doing experiments using eye trackers and other
devices - that can measure people’s involuntary responses to different types of images.
Specifically, threatening and aversive stimuli.
In one of these studies, he showed people photos of things that are obviously gross
- like an open wound with maggots in it, or a spider crawling on someone’s face - and
then he measured how long it took people to respond.
It turns out, people who are conservative react much more rapidly to negative stimuli
than liberals do.
And Hibbing believes this might have to do with our evolution.
“A strong negativity bias,” he says, “was extremely useful in the Pleistocene” - which
is the period of time ranging from 2.5 million years ago to roughly 12,000 years ago.
During that time, the ability to react quickly to outside threats - would’ve been necessary
to our survival.
That theory might seem a LITTLE far-fetched, but when you actually think about it - it
does apply to the conservative ideology.
A strong military, an affinity for guns, and a resistance to immigration - are all things
that naturally coincide with a biological aversion to outside threats.
Of course with any article like this, there’s bound to be some naysayers - but what’s
interesting about this one, is that almost every political scientist who had the opportunity
to comment on the study, agrees with Hibbing’s conclusion.
And the idea that conservatives and liberals are different people on psychological, physiological,
and even genetic levels, has become widely accepted.
Dr. John Jost is a social psychologist from NYU, who was raked over the coals by Republican
analysts in 2003, for suggesting that conservatives have a fundamental need for certainty and
an intolerance for ambiguity.
Back then, research like his was highly controversial - but now, a decade later, it’s become so
widely accepted that, he says, it’s a “virtually inescapable conclusion that the cognitive-motivational
styles of leftists and rightists are quite different.”
Obviously, research like this has pretty big implications for modern politics.
Are we really capable of having our opinions swayed by even the most well-presented arguments
and facts?
Or are our political beliefs hardwired into us?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and as always - thank you guys for
watching!