Personality predicts political preferences

[sangha]

Personality predicts political preferences

Personality predicts political preferences

TORONTO, ON – There is a strong relationship between a voter's politics and his personality, according to new research from the University of Toronto.

Researchers at UofT have shown that the psychological concern for compassion and equality is associated with a liberal mindset, while the concern for order and respect of social norms is associated with a conservative mindset.

"Conservatives tend to be higher in a personality trait called orderliness and lower in openness. This means that they're more concerned about a sense of order and tradition, expressing a deep psychological motive to preserve the current social structure," says Jacob Hirsh, a post-doctoral psychology student at UofT and lead author of the study.

The study, which appears in this month's Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, may even lend some legitimacy to the term, 'bleeding-heart-liberal.'

"Our data shows that liberalism is more often associated with the underlying motives for compassion, empathy and equality," says Hirsh.

Researchers asked more than 600 participants from Canada and the US to classify their politics as either small-L liberal or small-C conservative instead of identifying with a particular political party. They then administered a personality test to determine the participants' personality traits and their relationship to political preferences.

Hirsh's work contributes to accumulating evidence suggesting political behaviour is motivated by underlying psychological needs. "We are beginning to understand the deeper motivations that are involved in determining an individual's political leanings", says Hirsh. "While everybody has the same basic motivational architecture, the relative strength of the underlying systems varies from one person to the next. If concerns for order and equality are relatively balanced, the individual is likely to be politically moderate; as either motive grows stronger than the other, political preferences move further to either end of the spectrum."

"People's values are deeply embedded in their biology and genetic heritage," says UofT Professor and co-author Jordan Peterson. "This means you have to take a deeper view of political values and morality in terms of where these motives are coming from; political preferences do not emerge from a simple rational consideration of the issues."

Peterson argues that in order to maintain a functioning society, both types of political motivation are required.

"The fact that variability still exists in these motivational systems, from an evolutionary perspective, means that neither one is sufficient on its own. There are costs and benefits to each political profile and both appear critical to maintaining an effective balance in society."

 

[midcan5]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them. The Rhetoric of Reaction - Albert O. Hirschman - Harvard University Press

Here's a harder question in my mind. http://www.usmessageboard.com/conspiracy-theories/95300-serious-conspiracy-theorist-question.html

And this piece is interesting. Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives | Video on TED.com

this is good too Robert Wright on optimism | Video on TED.com

 

[Oddball]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them.

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

 

[sangha]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them.

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

True. I'd bet there are people out there who still don't know what narrow minded reactionaries the conservatives are

 

[Avatar4321]

How on earth do you honestly claim you care about the poor when all you do is empower government, keep the poor poor, and enslave them for your own political gain?

If you care about the poor, stop outsourcing your charity to others and do it yourself.

 

[ConHog]

How on earth do you honestly claim you care about the poor when all you do is empower government, keep the poor poor, and enslave them for your own political gain?

If you care about the poor, stop outsourcing your charity to others and do it yourself.

Easy, they DON'T care about the poor, or anyone else for that matter; I've said it for years. Welfare, affirmative action, all that garbage, all it does is enslave the very people they lie and say they care about.

 

[Oddball]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them.

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

True. I'd bet there are people out there who still don't know what narrow minded reactionaries the conservatives are

You really are dumber than dirt, aren't you?

 

[ConHog]

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

True. I'd bet there are people out there who still don't know what narrow minded reactionaries the conservatives are

You really are dumber than dirt, aren't you?

There is nothing funnier than the class moron calling another classmate stupid.

 

[rdean]

6%

 

[Political Junky]

How on earth do you honestly claim you care about the poor when all you do is empower government, keep the poor poor, and enslave them for your own political gain?

If you care about the poor, stop outsourcing your charity to others and do it yourself.

Easy, they DON'T care about the poor, or anyone else for that matter; I've said it for years. Welfare, affirmative action, all that garbage, all it does is enslave the very people they lie and say they care about.

Yes, that's the republican party line, all right.

 

[Oddball]

6%

Thanks for re-re-re-re-re-reaffirming your complete lack of analytical thought.

 

[ConHog]

How on earth do you honestly claim you care about the poor when all you do is empower government, keep the poor poor, and enslave them for your own political gain?

If you care about the poor, stop outsourcing your charity to others and do it yourself.

Easy, they DON'T care about the poor, or anyone else for that matter; I've said it for years. Welfare, affirmative action, all that garbage, all it does is enslave the very people they lie and say they care about.

Yes, that's the republican party line, all right.

YES YES, b/c it certainly a fact that of the two major parties, the REPS are the ones who favor welfare programs and affirmative action.

 

[del]

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

True. I'd bet there are people out there who still don't know what narrow minded reactionaries the conservatives are

You really are dumber than dirt, aren't you?

why do you hate dirt?

 

[RadiomanATL]

Personality predicts political preferences

Over emotional, reactionary, caustic and pretentious = liberal? Who woulda thunk it?


(since we're painting with a broad stereotypical and moronic brush and all, I thought I would join in)

 

[txlonghorn]

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

True. I'd bet there are people out there who still don't know what narrow minded reactionaries the conservatives are

You really are dumber than dirt, aren't you?

Why on earth would you insult dirt like that????

 

[txlonghorn]

Compassion for the poor must mean give them everything...for God's sake, whatever you do, don't teach them anything!!! Just put them on a soup line or give them free condoms and let the good times roll!!!

That's caring like nobody's business!!

 

[ConHog]

Compassion for the poor must mean give them everything...for God's sake, whatever you do, don't teach them anything!!! Just put them on a soup line or give them free condoms and let the good times roll!!!

That's caring like nobody's business!!

What they don't care to admit is that all but the most uncaring conservative is all for welfare programs which aid those who just can't survive without it, but we want those who don't deserve it OFF the rolls. I mean for God's sakes if they kicked everyone who was a user off the welfare system, they could double benefits to the truly needy and still save billions.

But as long as morons like Sangha are running around claiming no one is abusing the system..............

 

[rikules]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them.

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

you should make greeting cards out of that saying and send them off as a reminder to MOST of the conservatives in the country who paint with an even LARGER brush when they hold forth on "liberals"

though
it must be said

sane and rational people do know that conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries

and it is quite obvious that conservatives, having extremely defective brains, seem to be quite unaware of just how narrow minded they truely are

if I had a dime for every time some narrow minded moronicon claimed that HE was TOLERANT of the RIGHT THINGS while it was LIBERALS who were REALLY the intolerant ones because they didn't tolerate narrow minded bigotted hatefilled moronicons...

i'd pay off the national debt

 

[del]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them.

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

you should make greeting cards out of that saying and send them off as a reminder to MOST of the conservatives in the country who paint with an even LARGER brush when they hold forth on "liberals"

though
it must be said

sane and rational people do know that conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries

and it is quite obvious that conservatives, having extremely defective brains, seem to be quite unaware of just how narrow minded they truely are

if I had a dime for every time some narrow minded moronicon claimed that HE was TOLERANT of the RIGHT THINGS while it was LIBERALS who were REALLY the intolerant ones because they didn't tolerate narrow minded bigotted hatefilled moronicons...

i'd pay off the national debt

is being stupid physically painful for you?

 

[Oddball]

This is old stuff, everyone knows conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries except them.

Dude's helpful hint #27:

When painting with the broad brush, make sure to hold it with the bristles pointing away from you.

you should make greeting cards out of that saying and send them off as a reminder to MOST of the conservatives in the country who paint with an even LARGER brush when they hold forth on "liberals"

though
it must be said

sane and rational people do know that conservatives are narrow minded reactionaries

and it is quite obvious that conservatives, having extremely defective brains, seem to be quite unaware of just how narrow minded they truely are

if I had a dime for every time some narrow minded moronicon claimed that HE was TOLERANT of the RIGHT THINGS while it was LIBERALS who were REALLY the intolerant ones because they didn't tolerate narrow minded bigotted hatefilled moronicons...

i'd pay off the national debt

Dude's helpful hint #42:

Best to STFU and appear the brain dead stooge, rather than speak up and remove all doubt.