I've always joked around that there are personality differences between the two ideologies and that you can tell a Republican from a Democrat from early on. I remember one of my friends from 3rd grade was always obsessed about what things cost and all things money. So it didn't surprise me that he turned out to be a Republican (there were other factors as well). I on the other hand was more artistic, messy, cared about the environment and supported Dukakis (being 7yrs old at the time).
Now there is definitive proof by a psychological study that shows true differences between Liberals and Conservatives. All the information makes complete sense and is easily seen in real life if you know what to look for. It puts a damper on people that believe reasoning on issues is the basic motivator for determining political persuasions.
From Psychology Today:
"All people are born alike—except Republicans and Democrats," quipped Groucho Marx, and in fact it turns out that personality differences between liberals and conservatives are evident in early childhood. In 1969, Berkeley professors Jack and Jeanne Block embarked on a study of childhood personality, asking nursery school teachers to rate children's temperaments. They weren't even thinking about political orientation.
Twenty years later, they decided to compare the subjects' childhood personalities with their political preferences as adults. They found arresting patterns. As kids, liberals had developed close relationships with peers and were rated by their teachers as self-reliant, energetic, impulsive, and resilient. People who were conservative at age 23 had been described by their teachers as easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited, and vulnerable at age 3. The reason for the difference, the Blocks hypothesized, was that insecure kids most needed the reassurance of tradition and authority, and they found it in conservative politics.
The most comprehensive review of personality and political orientation to date is a 2003 meta-analysis of 88 prior studies involving 22,000 participants. The researchers—John Jost of NYU, Arie Kruglanski of the University of Maryland, and Jack Glaser and Frank Sulloway of Berkeley—found that conservatives have a greater desire to reach a decision quickly and stick to it, and are higher on conscientiousness, which includes neatness, orderliness, duty, and rule-following. Liberals are higher on openness, which includes intellectual curiosity, excitement-seeking, novelty, creativity for its own sake, and a craving for stimulation like travel, color, art, music, and literature.
The article goes into sub-topics such as the bias of liberal researchers, the thinking habits of either side and many more areas of interest. Of course a liberal can be neat and orderly, but still have the majority of traits listed for left-leaners. I know that for me that I have almost all of the personality traits that signify a liberal.
Another key aspect of the piece shows the transformation of 'liberals' becoming conservative after 9/11. This proved to them that people with deep-seated fears will tend to become their true selves when a major event like that triggers life and death questions and the need to be safe. In fact, when you hear George Bush speak, he is talking to those scared conservatives that want to hear his tough talk to satisfy that safety need. Addressing issues in black and white terms also helps them cope with the world. When it comes to fearfulness and safety, describing the world in simple terms helps is easier for that part of the brain to deal with, since fear comes from the part of the brain that deals with instinct and is 'older' in a way. On the other side of the spectrum, people that are immersed in complex thought have an easier time seeing issues that have multiple sides to them. Conservatives see this as a weakness and call it 'flip-flopping', as Bush did to Kerry in 2004.
If I'm not making sense to you, go check out the article and let the experts explain. I guess I am just rambling on with my artistic, messy, liberal self.
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