Liberal vs. Conservative

[Steely_Dan]

I live in the Inland Empire of CA...believe me, Orange County has nothing on this area. It is about as conservative as it gets. Because of this the only left-of-center talk show host is none other than Dr. Dean Edell. Today, he was speaking about an article in Psychology Today (Jan-Feb) that basically outlined the differences between Liberals and Conservatives from a psychological point of view. I hurried home and looked up the article on the Internet. I found it fascinating and I urge everyone to read it. Here are a few tidbits...

Snip-

...found that conservatives have a greater desire to reach a decision quickly and stick to it, and are higher on conscientiousness, which includes neatness, orderliness, duty, and rule-following. Liberals are higher on openness, which includes intellectual curiosity, excitement-seeking, novelty, creativity for its own sake, and a craving for stimulation like travel, color, art, music, and literature.

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Those who think the world is highly dangerous and those with the greatest fear of death are the most likely to be conservative.

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When these natural desires are primed by thoughts of death and a barrage of mortal fear, people gravitate toward conservatism because it's more certain about the answers it provides—right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, us vs. them—and because conservative leaders are more likely to advocate a return to traditional values, allowing people to stick with what's familiar and known. "Conservatism is a more black and white ideology than liberalism," explains Jost. "It emphasizes tradition and authority, which are reassuring during periods of threat.

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"In politics these days, there's a dose of reason, and there's a dose of irrationality driven by psychological terror that may very well be swinging elections."

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You can read the entire article at:

http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20061222-000001.xml

Enjoy...

-P

[GenDem]

1. This article is fascinating --

I always thought that it was more a personality/psyche thing. I definitely fit all of the liberal personality traits listed in the article.

Always liked Dr Dean Edell. I used to listen to him years ago on am radio. Love his controversial views on the legalization of drugs.