CDZ "Low effort" thinkers likely to be conservatives

[320 Years of History]

Earlier today, I saw a post in another part of USMB. In that post, a member claimed that left-leaning people are "the most intolerant of people." Reading that, I thought, "Hmm...That doesn't seem like the liberals and left leaners whom I know well enough to know their politics. I think I'll look to see if there's been any scholarly/credible research into that." Lo and behold, there was, and I shared it in that thread.

In the course of researching the veracity of the other member's claim, I came across a collection of studies titled "Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism." I couldn't help but laugh when I read the title -- hell, I'm still laughing over it -- for it asserted what I've often observed in the quality and sources of the majority of fatuous remarks I come by on USMB, in the conservative press and conservative blogosphere. Of course, inanity isn't bridled to the remarks USMB's conservatives make. Donald Trump daily has at least a few frivolous and/or asinine thoughts he utters to the whole world.

For as often as I see conservatives remarking here on how stupid or absurd be liberals and their ideas, I thought I'd share some of the findings of the study noted above. So, without further ado from the study:

• The drunker one is, the more conservative one's political views --> "Bar patrons reported more conservative attitudes as their level of alcohol intoxication increased....As BAC [blood alcohol content] increased and capacity for deliberative thought decreased, liberal and conservative participants shifted toward conservatism....Our data are correlational, and the possibility of reverse causality remains—political conservatives may drink more alcohol."
  
• The harder/more one must think, the more conservative one's political views --> "Participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than those not under cognitive load. Because cognitive load depletes available mental resources, participants were left to draw more heavily on thinking that was easy and efficient....Cognitive load also produced a corresponding shift in liberal attitudes; when under load, participants’ endorsement of political liberalism decreased."
  
• The less time one is able to devote to thinking, the more conservative one's views --> "When effortful thinking was disrupted by rapid presentation of words and phrases related to political conservatism, endorsement of these terms increased. Endorsement of terms related to political liberalism was not affected by time pressure. Time pressure forces reliance on information processing that is quick and efficient."
• People often may arrive at conservative stances not because they've thought "long and hard" about the topic, but because they ran out of time to think rigorously about it --> "Because political conservatism is thought to provide stability and certainty, our participants may have been drawn to it when under load and time pressure. If our claim that low-effort thought promotes conservative ideology is correct, it should be possible to increase conservatism via low effort thought independent of epistemic needs."
• Perfunctory thought process lead to conservative views --> "[L]ow-effort thought promotes political conservatism. When instructed to use shallow processing, political conservatism generated more agreement than when participants were instructed to think hard. Those instructed to use shallow processing had poorer recall at the end of the study, and recall accuracy was partially responsible for the link between processing style and conservatism."

Finally, I got toward the end of the paper and read this, "Many have suggested that liberals and conservatives differ in the way they think, with those on the right of the political spectrum thought to process information in more simple-minded terms (Adorno et al., 1950; Stone, 1980; Tetlock, 1983)." The authors of the study noted above are not making precisely that claim; however, I'm still going to read those other articles.

The authors also write, "Without the means or motive to override an initial impulse that promotes conservative ideology, the political scales may be tipped toward the right of center and may provide a contributing explanation for what has been described as a conservative bias in American politics." Well, I bet there are tons of folks around who intuitively knew that, but it's nice that rigorous research has show it to be so. <winks>

Important Note:
As much as the liberals here may want to do so or think so, it's essential that one note that Eidelman et al "do not assert that conservatives fail to engage in effortful, deliberative thought but rather that disengagement of effortful thinking leads to cognitions consonant with political conservatism." In other words, it's not that conservatives are "low effort" thinkers, but rather than "low effort" thinkers more often espouse conservative stances.

In terms of actionable take-aways from the paper, if one encounters someone making an inane remark, find out if they are a conservative. If so, buy them a drink. Alternatively, rent a hotel room for them and tuck them in so you can go back to chatting with the "grown ups.". LOL

Post Script:
The authors of the study have a wicked sense of humor. In their conclusion to the paper, they remark, "Low-effort thinking promotes political conservatism. This claim provides a counterweight to early psychological perspectives on political ideology that tended to see conservatism in somewhat pathological terms (Adorno et al., 1950)." LOL Didn't Bernie Sanders refer to Trump as being a "pathological liar?"

 

[candycorn]

Not certain about that.

However, you rarely see a conservative make a nuanced argument unless you're seeing her/him defend their messiah Trump.

Other than that, if they are not interested in nuances and are only capable of internalizing soundbytes.

 

[Darkwind]

You honestly don't see it, do you?

Let Me go find that report (written by the oil companies) that provides rigorous research and conclusions on how big energy and particularly oil, are making the environment better.

 

[turzovka]

Earlier today, I saw a post in another part of USMB. In that post, a member claimed that left-leaning people are "the most intolerant of people." Reading that, I thought, "Hmm...That doesn't seem like the liberals and left leaners whom I know well enough to know their politics. I think I'll look to see if there's been any scholarly/credible research into that." Lo and behold, there was, and I shared it in that thread.

In the course of researching the veracity of the other member's claim, I came across a collection of studies titled "Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism." I couldn't help but laugh when I read the title -- hell, I'm still laughing over it -- for it asserted what I've often observed in the quality and sources of the majority of fatuous remarks I come by on USMB, in the conservative press and conservative blogosphere. Of course, inanity isn't bridled to the remarks USMB's conservatives make. Donald Trump daily has at least a few frivolous and/or asinine thoughts he utters to the whole world.

For as often as I see conservatives remarking here on how stupid or absurd be liberals and their ideas, I thought I'd share some of the findings of the study noted above. So, without further ado from the study:

• The drunker one is, the more conservative one's political views --> "Bar patrons reported more conservative attitudes as their level of alcohol intoxication increased....As BAC [blood alcohol content] increased and capacity for deliberative thought decreased, liberal and conservative participants shifted toward conservatism....Our data are correlational, and the possibility of reverse causality remains—political conservatives may drink more alcohol."
  
• The harder/more one must think, the more conservative one's political views --> "Participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than those not under cognitive load. Because cognitive load depletes available mental resources, participants were left to draw more heavily on thinking that was easy and efficient....Cognitive load also produced a corresponding shift in liberal attitudes; when under load, participants’ endorsement of political liberalism decreased."
  
• The less time one is able to devote to thinking, the more conservative one's views --> "When effortful thinking was disrupted by rapid presentation of words and phrases related to political conservatism, endorsement of these terms increased. Endorsement of terms related to political liberalism was not affected by time pressure. Time pressure forces reliance on information processing that is quick and efficient."
• People often may arrive at conservative stances not because they've thought "long and hard" about the topic, but because they ran out of time to think rigorously about it --> "Because political conservatism is thought to provide stability and certainty, our participants may have been drawn to it when under load and time pressure. If our claim that low-effort thought promotes conservative ideology is correct, it should be possible to increase conservatism via low effort thought independent of epistemic needs."
• Perfunctory thought process lead to conservative views --> "[L]ow-effort thought promotes political conservatism. When instructed to use shallow processing, political conservatism generated more agreement than when participants were instructed to think hard. Those instructed to use shallow processing had poorer recall at the end of the study, and recall accuracy was partially responsible for the link between processing style and conservatism."

Finally, I got toward the end of the paper and read this, "Many have suggested that liberals and conservatives differ in the way they think, with those on the right of the political spectrum thought to process information in more simple-minded terms (Adorno et al., 1950; Stone, 1980; Tetlock, 1983)." The authors of the study noted above are not making precisely that claim; however, I'm still going to read those other articles.

The authors also write, "Without the means or motive to override an initial impulse that promotes conservative ideology, the political scales may be tipped toward the right of center and may provide a contributing explanation for what has been described as a conservative bias in American politics." Well, I bet there are tons of folks around who intuitively knew that, but it's nice that rigorous research has show it to be so. <winks>

Important Note:
As much as the liberals here may want to do so or think so, it's essential that one note that Eidelman et al "do not assert that conservatives fail to engage in effortful, deliberative thought but rather that disengagement of effortful thinking leads to cognitions consonant with political conservatism." In other words, it's not that conservatives are "low effort" thinkers, but rather than "low effort" thinkers more often espouse conservative stances.

In terms of actionable take-aways from the paper, if one encounters someone making an inane remark, find out if they are a conservative. If so, buy them a drink. Alternatively, rent a hotel room for them and tuck them in so you can go back to chatting with the "grown ups.". LOL

Post Script:
The authors of the study have a wicked sense of humor. In their conclusion to the paper, they remark, "Low-effort thinking promotes political conservatism. This claim provides a counterweight to early psychological perspectives on political ideology that tended to see conservatism in somewhat pathological terms (Adorno et al., 1950)." LOL Didn't Bernie Sanders refer to Trump as being a "pathological liar?"

Atheists and agnostics likely to be liberals.
And you are going to tell us about low level thinkers.

 

[MarathonMike]

Here's another possibility: Conservatism requires less effort because it is based on Truth and Truth is inherently simple. Liberal takes more effort because it is based on lies and lies are inherently complicated.

 

[MarathonMike]

Correction Liberalism, not Liberal.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

CDZ=LOL

CDZ, where intolerant sissies post troll threads

 

[Compost]

Earlier today, I saw a post in another part of USMB. In that post, a member claimed that left-leaning people are "the most intolerant of people." Reading that, I thought, "Hmm...That doesn't seem like the liberals and left leaners whom I know well enough to know their politics. I think I'll look to see if there's been any scholarly/credible research into that." Lo and behold, there was, and I shared it in that thread.

In the course of researching the veracity of the other member's claim, I came across a collection of studies titled "Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism." I couldn't help but laugh when I read the title -- hell, I'm still laughing over it -- for it asserted what I've often observed in the quality and sources of the majority of fatuous remarks I come by on USMB, in the conservative press and conservative blogosphere. Of course, inanity isn't bridled to the remarks USMB's conservatives make. Donald Trump daily has at least a few frivolous and/or asinine thoughts he utters to the whole world.

For as often as I see conservatives remarking here on how stupid or absurd be liberals and their ideas, I thought I'd share some of the findings of the study noted above. So, without further ado from the study:

• The drunker one is, the more conservative one's political views --> "Bar patrons reported more conservative attitudes as their level of alcohol intoxication increased....As BAC [blood alcohol content] increased and capacity for deliberative thought decreased, liberal and conservative participants shifted toward conservatism....Our data are correlational, and the possibility of reverse causality remains—political conservatives may drink more alcohol."
  
• The harder/more one must think, the more conservative one's political views --> "Participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than those not under cognitive load. Because cognitive load depletes available mental resources, participants were left to draw more heavily on thinking that was easy and efficient....Cognitive load also produced a corresponding shift in liberal attitudes; when under load, participants’ endorsement of political liberalism decreased."
  
• The less time one is able to devote to thinking, the more conservative one's views --> "When effortful thinking was disrupted by rapid presentation of words and phrases related to political conservatism, endorsement of these terms increased. Endorsement of terms related to political liberalism was not affected by time pressure. Time pressure forces reliance on information processing that is quick and efficient."
• People often may arrive at conservative stances not because they've thought "long and hard" about the topic, but because they ran out of time to think rigorously about it --> "Because political conservatism is thought to provide stability and certainty, our participants may have been drawn to it when under load and time pressure. If our claim that low-effort thought promotes conservative ideology is correct, it should be possible to increase conservatism via low effort thought independent of epistemic needs."
• Perfunctory thought process lead to conservative views --> "[L]ow-effort thought promotes political conservatism. When instructed to use shallow processing, political conservatism generated more agreement than when participants were instructed to think hard. Those instructed to use shallow processing had poorer recall at the end of the study, and recall accuracy was partially responsible for the link between processing style and conservatism."

Finally, I got toward the end of the paper and read this, "Many have suggested that liberals and conservatives differ in the way they think, with those on the right of the political spectrum thought to process information in more simple-minded terms (Adorno et al., 1950; Stone, 1980; Tetlock, 1983)." The authors of the study noted above are not making precisely that claim; however, I'm still going to read those other articles.

The authors also write, "Without the means or motive to override an initial impulse that promotes conservative ideology, the political scales may be tipped toward the right of center and may provide a contributing explanation for what has been described as a conservative bias in American politics." Well, I bet there are tons of folks around who intuitively knew that, but it's nice that rigorous research has show it to be so. <winks>

Important Note:
As much as the liberals here may want to do so or think so, it's essential that one note that Eidelman et al "do not assert that conservatives fail to engage in effortful, deliberative thought but rather that disengagement of effortful thinking leads to cognitions consonant with political conservatism." In other words, it's not that conservatives are "low effort" thinkers, but rather than "low effort" thinkers more often espouse conservative stances.

In terms of actionable take-aways from the paper, if one encounters someone making an inane remark, find out if they are a conservative. If so, buy them a drink. Alternatively, rent a hotel room for them and tuck them in so you can go back to chatting with the "grown ups.". LOL

Post Script:
The authors of the study have a wicked sense of humor. In their conclusion to the paper, they remark, "Low-effort thinking promotes political conservatism. This claim provides a counterweight to early psychological perspectives on political ideology that tended to see conservatism in somewhat pathological terms (Adorno et al., 1950)." LOL Didn't Bernie Sanders refer to Trump as being a "pathological liar?"

Evidently, OP figures a sure way to prove you are a deep thinker is to return a partisan inanity with a partisan inanity.

 

[JakeStarkey]

The hard right is deficient in critical thinking.

The hard left is incredibly intolerant of all opposition.

 

[Anathema]

I think the author(s) of the study miss something....

As a Conservative, I rarely need to spend great amounts of time pondering the intellectual realms because those who came before me already have. For example:

I have no need to delve into the intricacies of the Second Amendment because I was taught the meaning of the clause by my elders/betters as a child. They were taught its meaning by their elders, and so on, back to the generation that wrote and approved the document.

It's not laziness for Conservatives. We just know what we believe and see no need to rehash it constantly in our heads. Apparently our more Centrist and Liberal associates need constant mental reexamination to prove to themselves that 2+2 does indeed still equal 4.

 

[IcebergSlim]

Here's another possibility: Conservatism requires less effort because it is based on Truth and Truth is inherently simple. Liberal takes more effort because it is based on lies and lies are inherently complicated.

Exhibit I.......

Exhibit II - Bripat....

 

[IcebergSlim]

Earlier today, I saw a post in another part of USMB. In that post, a member claimed that left-leaning people are "the most intolerant of people." Reading that, I thought, "Hmm...That doesn't seem like the liberals and left leaners whom I know well enough to know their politics. I think I'll look to see if there's been any scholarly/credible research into that." Lo and behold, there was, and I shared it in that thread.

In the course of researching the veracity of the other member's claim, I came across a collection of studies titled "Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism." I couldn't help but laugh when I read the title -- hell, I'm still laughing over it -- for it asserted what I've often observed in the quality and sources of the majority of fatuous remarks I come by on USMB, in the conservative press and conservative blogosphere. Of course, inanity isn't bridled to the remarks USMB's conservatives make. Donald Trump daily has at least a few frivolous and/or asinine thoughts he utters to the whole world.

For as often as I see conservatives remarking here on how stupid or absurd be liberals and their ideas, I thought I'd share some of the findings of the study noted above. So, without further ado from the study:

• The drunker one is, the more conservative one's political views --> "Bar patrons reported more conservative attitudes as their level of alcohol intoxication increased....As BAC [blood alcohol content] increased and capacity for deliberative thought decreased, liberal and conservative participants shifted toward conservatism....Our data are correlational, and the possibility of reverse causality remains—political conservatives may drink more alcohol."
  
• The harder/more one must think, the more conservative one's political views --> "Participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than those not under cognitive load. Because cognitive load depletes available mental resources, participants were left to draw more heavily on thinking that was easy and efficient....Cognitive load also produced a corresponding shift in liberal attitudes; when under load, participants’ endorsement of political liberalism decreased."
  
• The less time one is able to devote to thinking, the more conservative one's views --> "When effortful thinking was disrupted by rapid presentation of words and phrases related to political conservatism, endorsement of these terms increased. Endorsement of terms related to political liberalism was not affected by time pressure. Time pressure forces reliance on information processing that is quick and efficient."
• People often may arrive at conservative stances not because they've thought "long and hard" about the topic, but because they ran out of time to think rigorously about it --> "Because political conservatism is thought to provide stability and certainty, our participants may have been drawn to it when under load and time pressure. If our claim that low-effort thought promotes conservative ideology is correct, it should be possible to increase conservatism via low effort thought independent of epistemic needs."
• Perfunctory thought process lead to conservative views --> "[L]ow-effort thought promotes political conservatism. When instructed to use shallow processing, political conservatism generated more agreement than when participants were instructed to think hard. Those instructed to use shallow processing had poorer recall at the end of the study, and recall accuracy was partially responsible for the link between processing style and conservatism."

Finally, I got toward the end of the paper and read this, "Many have suggested that liberals and conservatives differ in the way they think, with those on the right of the political spectrum thought to process information in more simple-minded terms (Adorno et al., 1950; Stone, 1980; Tetlock, 1983)." The authors of the study noted above are not making precisely that claim; however, I'm still going to read those other articles.

The authors also write, "Without the means or motive to override an initial impulse that promotes conservative ideology, the political scales may be tipped toward the right of center and may provide a contributing explanation for what has been described as a conservative bias in American politics." Well, I bet there are tons of folks around who intuitively knew that, but it's nice that rigorous research has show it to be so. <winks>

Important Note:
As much as the liberals here may want to do so or think so, it's essential that one note that Eidelman et al "do not assert that conservatives fail to engage in effortful, deliberative thought but rather that disengagement of effortful thinking leads to cognitions consonant with political conservatism." In other words, it's not that conservatives are "low effort" thinkers, but rather than "low effort" thinkers more often espouse conservative stances.

In terms of actionable take-aways from the paper, if one encounters someone making an inane remark, find out if they are a conservative. If so, buy them a drink. Alternatively, rent a hotel room for them and tuck them in so you can go back to chatting with the "grown ups.". LOL

Post Script:
The authors of the study have a wicked sense of humor. In their conclusion to the paper, they remark, "Low-effort thinking promotes political conservatism. This claim provides a counterweight to early psychological perspectives on political ideology that tended to see conservatism in somewhat pathological terms (Adorno et al., 1950)." LOL Didn't Bernie Sanders refer to Trump as being a "pathological liar?"

Atheists and agnostics likely to be liberals.
And you are going to tell us about low level thinkers.

Why would atheists and agnostics be "low level thinkers"?

 

[turzovka]

Here's another possibility: Conservatism requires less effort because it is based on Truth and Truth is inherently simple. Liberal takes more effort because it is based on lies and lies are inherently complicated.

Exhibit I.......

Exhibit II - Bripat....

Are you trying to suggest that your liberal left wing democrat loving mainstream TV network sites are fair, honest and not immersed in a political and social engineering agendas?

If so, consider yourself a low level thinker.

 

[JakeStarkey]

MarathonMike believes thinking is hard so he likes being told what to think.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Here's another possibility: Conservatism requires less effort because it is based on Truth and Truth is inherently simple. Liberal takes more effort because it is based on lies and lies are inherently complicated.

Exhibit I.......

Exhibit II - Bripat....

Are you trying to suggest that your liberal left wing democrat loving mainstream TV network sites are fair, honest and not immersed in a political and social engineering agendas?

If so, consider yourself a low level thinker.

The opening rant demonstrates your unfair, dishonest, and political immersion in an ideology that is not perfect.

Please remember that you don't talk for Jesus or the church.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

It really is quite simple. Liberals believe that everything can be improved and that requires an enquiring mind.

Conservatives believe that everything was better when they were younger. That doesnt require any thought. It attracts the slower people and makes no demands on them.

 

[miketx]

What does it all mean?

 

[2aguy]

Here's another possibility: Conservatism requires less effort because it is based on Truth and Truth is inherently simple. Liberal takes more effort because it is based on lies and lies are inherently complicated.

Yes......supply facts, the truth and explain reality....and the lefty will say they don't care, they want what they want or believe what they believe........just like this report...show how stupid it is with evidence, and the lefty morons will deny it....

 

[miketx]

To anger a conservative lie to them, to anger a liberal, tell them the truth.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Th truth is that Trump, like Romney, is going to win in a land slide, that Trump is going to win yuuuuuge.