I recently read an interesting article in the February 2007 issue of Psychology Today. It was about political stances, and how most people’s politics have little to do with reason and more to do with personality traits and education level, among other things. According to the article, psychologists have discovered some interesting underlying personality differences between liberals and conservatives. A few I found to be somewhat surprising:
Multiple studies find that liberals are more optimistic. Conservatives are more likely to be religious. Liberals are more likely to like classical music and jazz, conservatives, country music. Liberals are more likely to enjoy abstract art. Conservative men are more likely than liberal men to prefer conventional forms of entertainment like TV and talk radio. Liberal men like romantic comedies more than conservative men. Liberal women are more likely than conservative women to enjoy books, poetry, writing in a diary, acting, and playing musical instruments.
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.
Getting to the main point of the article, it seems that those who have the greatest fear of death, a need for an authority figure, and who have a one-dimensional view of the world are more likely to be conservative. On a side note, this would help explain why the vast majority of those in the military tend to vote Republican.
If anyone understands this, it’s President Bush. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bush’s approval ratings shot up to around 90%. Instead of using this golden opportunity to push for a truly conservative agenda of smaller government, he vastly expanded the powers of government with the PATRIOT Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Instead of reevaluating US foreign policy and changing it in a way that would ease resentment of the United States in hotspots around the world, he created a culture of fear, convincing Americans that their neighbors might be terrorists. Never mind that terrorism doesn’t register much of a blip when compared to the top killers of Americans.
Today’s conservatism is fueled by fear. Those who are more easily manipulated by fear feel at ease when someone in a position of authority (Bush) reassures them and tells them that he will keep them safe. Unfortunately, this combination of fear and need to be kept safe gives people a false sense of security. It is my hope that rational people will understand that the government can do very little to stop terrorism. Until then, we need to stop being ruled by our fear.
