Is obsessive TIDYNESS the root of racism and homophobia?
The Yale experiments found people’s aversion towards a lack of order in images and patterns 'consistently overlapped' with their tendency to stigmatise individuals seen as different
An aversion to 'broken patterns' such as the sight of a picture hanging crookedly on a wall, out of order tiles, or a desk with things in the wrong place has been linked to racism and homophobia.
The Yale team say their groundbreaking study 'sets out a new basis for prejudice'.
The researchers say that traditional explanations of prejudice, namely that it arises from a sense of danger or some deeply embedded evolutionary flight-or-fight response, may now not be correct.
More: http://www.cetusnews.com/tech/Is-obsessive-TIDYNESS-the-root-of-racism-and-homophobia-.HJbagrcxf.html
And here's the abstract of the paper:
Relating pattern deviancy aversion to stigma and prejudice
What predicts people’s powerful and universal dislike of social deviancy? Across six studies, aversion towards non-social pattern deviancy, for example, a row of triangles with one triangle out of line, predicted aversion towards stigmatized individuals, social norm breakers, statistically negative and positive deviants, and a racial minority group (Black individuals). The relationship between pattern deviancy and social deviancy aversion emerged across explicit and implicit measures, across cultures (United States and China), and was of a moderately large magnitude (meta-analytic effect size: d?=?0.68). Studies 7 and 8 examined developmental differences. Older but not younger children’s pattern deviancy aversion related to their dislike of social norm breakers. Although non-social pattern deviancy and social deviancy judgements may seem distinct given their differing domains, people’s aversion towards non-social pattern deviancy and social deviancy consistently overlapped. These findings raise the possibility that pattern deviancy aversion plays an important role in stigmatization and prejudice.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0243-x (Need to subscribe for full access - no more at link)
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And personally reassuring. I do like pictures and Venetian blinds hanging straight, and have a couple other minor peculiarities, but am about as far from "obsessively tidy" one could be without being a hoarder. I used to have a sign hanging on my closet door knob that said, "You may TOUCH the dust, but please don't WRITE in it." 
I'd like to see more peer reviewed articles on this study; it could be a deep rabbit hole. First thoughts are the rise of Hitler and the famed German need for order.
