Personality Predicts Political Preferences

andym

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Thu Jun-10-10 12:16 PM
Original message

Personality Predicts Political Preferences

Edited on Thu Jun-10-10 12:18 PM by andym

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100609111312.htm

ScienceDaily (June 10, 2010) — 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.
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"Our data shows that liberalism is more often associated with the underlying motives for compassion, empathy and equality," says Hirsh.
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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."
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Perhaps explains why dialog is very difficult between strong liberals and conservatives. Fundamental personality differences are difficult to bridge

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sakabatou

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Thu Jun-10-10 12:17 PM
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1. This just in, water is wet

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Ian David

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Thu Jun-10-10 12:23 PM
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2. Authoritarian Personality Disorder

12. Authoritarian Personality Disorder
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2810561&mesg_id=2810665

http://www.psychnet-uk.com/clinical_psychology/personality_disorders_anti_social.htm

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Ian David

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Thu Jun-10-10 03:33 PM
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3. Get a Brain, Morons: Why Being Liberal Really Is Better Than Being Conservative

Get a Brain, Morons: Why Being Liberal Really Is Better Than Being Conservative
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8531185&mesg_id=8531185

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laconicsax

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Thu Jun-10-10 03:38 PM
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4. Study of Bush's psyche touches a nerve.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/13/usa.redbox

The authors also peer into the psyche of President George Bush, who turns out to be a textbook case. The telltale signs are his preference for moral certainty and frequently expressed dislike of nuance.

"This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes," the authors argue in the Psychological Bulletin.

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Swede

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Thu Jun-10-10 05:44 PM
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5. You should post this in GD.

Interesting article.

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Wednesdays

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Thu Jun-10-10 09:29 PM
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6. We've got an awful lot of psychopaths in this country, then

We were right about Smirk and Snarl and Sarah...and their followers. We just didn't know how right we were.

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Jim__

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Fri Jun-11-10 08:38 AM
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7. Fascinating. It sounds like liberals and conservatives are both slightly off balance.

Edited on Fri Jun-11-10 08:39 AM by Jim__

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."

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Fumesucker

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Fri Jun-11-10 09:54 PM
Response to Reply #7

8. "Politically moderate" means something entirely different in much of Europe vs the USA..

I'm not sure I buy this, politics is very different depending on your location..

A "moderate" here in GA where I live is very different than a "moderate" in San Francisco.

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