The Biology of Political Orientation

[AdamKadmon43]

I thought that this was sort of interesting (but, then what the hell would I know about anything).


Liberals and conservatives not only have different views of the world --- their brains actually process information differently, a new study has found. "In the past, people thought that politics were all environmentaly influenced," NewYork University psychologist David Amodio tells Scientific American. But his study shows that there are liberal and conservative "cognitive styles" that may be largely hard-wired into the brain. In the study, volunteers rated themselves on a scale between strongly liberal and strongly conservative, then took a test that measured their reaction to conflict and change. The test involved reacting to letters flashed briefly on a computer screen; most of the letters were M, but every now and then, the stream of M's was interrupted by a W. The test subjects were asked to continually press a button whenever they saw an M and do nothing when a W came up. Liberals, the study found, were more than twice as likely to spot and react appropriately to the W's when they came along. A brain scan showed that the liberals had more activity in the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), a region of the forebrain that allows people to break from habit when necessary. A brain with an active ACC, researchers say, is more likely to alter its views based on new evidence, rather than discount new evidence in order to maintain a steady opinion, as conservatives do. This doesn't mean liberals are smarter or better, Amondio said. The cognitive style of conservatives, which is "more structured and persistent," may be useful in situations where it is necessary to block out irrelevant or distracting information in making a judgment.
Excerpted without permission from a magazine (so sue me).

Adam

[DiamondDog]

Does this actually prove anything though?

Other than someone's response time to a stimulus or reaction to something different/out of place?

I've taken those quizzes that Harvard's website offers that supposedly tell how a person reacts to race and gay people but I think the exact same thing about them as I do this study.

[AdamKadmon43]

Does this actually prove anything though?

Other than someone's response time to a stimulus or reaction to something different/out of place?

I've taken those quizzes that Harvard's website offers that supposedly tell how a person reacts to race and gay people but I think the exact same thing about them as I do this study.

NAH..

It doesn't prove a damned thing. I was just trying to see if I could piss off some conservatives with it. :)

Adam

[shameless agitator]

This actually makes a lot of sense. What makes a liberal a liberal is that we actually think about things from the different angles while conservatives.....don't. Here's a quotation I love "While it's not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative." ~John Stuart Mills

[DiamondDog]

This actually makes a lot of sense. What makes a liberal a liberal is that we actually think about things from the different angles while conservatives.....don't. Here's a quotation I love "While it's not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative." ~John Stuart Mills

Does any of it really matter?

Politics are so boring, a huge media creation, and pointless nowadays.

I see no difference between the two labels/political parties, and politics is a game of BS, who has the most money/friends/influence/votes.

The whole red vs blue states thing is just a media creation and seeing them in terms of competition or dichotomy seems silly.

There are close minded liberals too, people who don't look at things from all angles and who refuse to look at other viewpoints besides their own.

[AdamKadmon43]

Does any of it really matter?

Politics are so boring, a huge media creation, and pointless nowadays.

I see no difference between the two labels/political parties, and politics is a game of BS, who has the most money/friends/influence/votes.

The whole red vs blue states thing is just a media creation and seeing them in terms of competition or dichotomy seems silly.

There are close minded liberals too, people who don't look at things from all angles and who refuse to look at other viewpoints besides their own.

I think that you have just about summed it all up.

Adam

[izzfan]

Personally, I don't think that political orientation is necessarily genetic/biological. I mean, my politics are a strange mix of liberalism and conservatism [used to be a lot more liberal though] so I don't know what that means in terms of my 'cognitive style'. Personally, I think political orientation has more to do with culture and experience rather than any biological factors.

Diamond Dog I have to support your point about the lack of a dichotomy in politics. In the UK all 3 of the major political parties [conservative, labour and liberal democrat] all seem to be gradually becoming more alike (I don't know whether labour is becoming more conservative or vice versa)... which is quite scary in my opinion as all governments should have at least 1 opposition (and by that I mean a proper opposition that strongly opposes the Government when they try to do stupid things like: introduce ID cards, introduce more censorship, plan to further criminalise those who like BDSM [under the guise of banning "extreme pornography" see www.backlash-uk.org.uk/ for the campaign against this law] draconian smoking bans, letting chavs get away with murder while locking up old people for not paying council tax, eroding civil liberties etc...).

As for your point about 'closed minded liberals' I have to agree, political correctness and the thought control/censorship/dogma that seems to follow it is just as scary as any conservative group [if not scarier]

Anyway, don't get me started on politics lol :soapbox:

Izzfan :flag3:

[ambiSextrous]

The story & video at this webpagehttp://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/06/26/sexuality/index.html
doesn't claim to tell your political orientation, but the "Researcher thinks sexual orientation may be reflected in the way a person walks..."

Hmmmm...

[TaylorMade]

This actually makes a lot of sense. What makes a liberal a liberal is that we actually think about things from the different angles while conservatives.....don't. Here's a quotation I love "While it's not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative." ~John Stuart Mills

I don't know. I know many conservatives that do think of things from many angles, but they know there is probably one or two from which things could actually WORK.

But, I have heard that study was debunked, just as Bailey's studies are, though. I'll do some poking around.... I don't agree with everything this blogger says, but her Sept 11th entry is where she covers it, I think- - ->2nd Sept. 11th Entry. (hhttp://drsanity.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html)

*Taylor*

[wanderingrichard]

a new version of pavlovs dogs, maybe??

[the mage]

Politics is a window dressing for the corporate masters.
Do a study on NFL fans you'll find the same irrational belief systems in place.