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Our Political Differences are Based on Differences in Wiring of Our Brains

Fri, 02/03/2012 - 14:28
Submitted by Lawrence Lanoff

A fascinating new study by researchers at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, demonstrates actual cognitive differences between conservative people and liberal people.

“In a series of experiments, researchers closely monitored physiological reactions and eye movements of study participants when shown combinations of both pleasant and unpleasant images. Conservatives reacted more strongly to, fixated more quickly on, and looked longer at the unpleasant images; liberals had stronger reactions to and looked longer at the pleasant images compared with conservatives.”

At first blush, this may not seem like a big thing, but honestly, it helps us to understand why the differences between viewpoints can be so extreme.

The study seems to point out two major types of cognitive wiring occurring in the human brain. Think of these two types of brain orientations as very different, yet essential, adaptations needed to survive and thrive as hunters and gatherers. The development of modern human culture appears to have co-oped these early adaptations, and they form the basis of entrenched political, religious perspectives.

The liberal brain orientation is attuned to and attentive to focusing on inequities within the culture, and has a strong desire to confront those inequities head on. It’s a kind of “lets roll up our sleeves and fix the stuff that’s broken” mentality. It sees good in life. We can see how this kind of thinking would help societies grow.

However, the conservative brain focuses on policies and measures inside the culture that protect us from perceived religious and moral threats. Its focus is more on the bad and evil. Hence the proliferation of biblical thinking among conservatives. Think “family values”, and hard line anti-abortion stances held by the Republican party. Additionally, there is also the focus on protecting culture from perceived threats from the outside world. Think defense spending and powerful military.

The bottom line? Rather than thinking people with opposite political views are intentionally ignorant, the study suggests we could enhance political understanding and tolerance if we could understand that political differences are – at least in part – based on very real differences in the wiring of our brains.

Reality Hacker. Sex Educator. Geek.
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Well, I don't know. Compared

Fri, 02/03/2012 - 18:27
Anonymous_ (not verified)

Well, I don't know. Compared to Europe, American liberals are conservative as well. And I seriously doubt conservatives have less of a “lets roll up our sleeves and fix the stuff that’s broken” mentality. They just have a different idea of what the solution is, and what it is that's broken.

The researchers did say their

Fri, 02/03/2012 - 21:02
Jake E

The research is intersting, but the researchers did say their conclusion only form a part of what makes people vote a certain way. There are lots of other reasons too. 

Doesn't explain the cruelty . . .

Fri, 02/03/2012 - 23:25
Patrick_R

We might find out some intriguing possibilities through such research. But the real question to me is why American-style conservatism is frequently so heartless. Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh take a deep pleasure in being cruel. It couldn't be more obvious. I think people so lacking in empathy have been damaged in some way. A certain kind of conservatism may one day be recognized as a spiritual illness that needs healing.

Cruelty...

Lawrence Lanoff's picture
Sat, 02/11/2012 - 11:53
Lawrence Lanoff

I don't really understand the whole cruelty thing very well. I do see it, but I don't understand the psychology. Do you have any info on this Patrick?

Cruelty and political orientation

Sat, 02/11/2012 - 21:23
Patrick_R

Hi Lawrence,

Generalizing from my reading and my background in health care, it seems to me that American conservatives are largely driven by fear of change. Fear makes people lash out and blame those who seem to be behind the threatening changes: gay people, people of color, poor people, 'liberals', and so on. Part of the problem is the difficulty certain conservatives have in feeling empathy for those who are struggling. Traditionally, conservative thinkers have blamed people for their own circumstances. This goes all the way back to Aristotle, who said (as I recall and paraphrase) that the best proof of a person's fittingness to be a slave is the fact that he or she IS a slave. Fear of change was certainly the main reason why abolitionists were hated, beaten, and even murdered in the pre-American Civil War United States.

There's a reason why Ayn Rand is still beloved among a certain kind of conservative: in her world-view the people at the top of the heap "deserve" to be there, and likewise with the masses at the bottom. So, the thinking seems to go, who are liberals to tinker with the natural order and try to help those who are to blame for their own miserable lives? (That would be socialism!) Surely this worthless underclass of low-lifes (who along with their liberal allies are trying to undermine society) must be defeated! And if you define a class of people as subversive, undeserving low-lifes, wouldn't your cruelty and contempt towards them be perfectly justified? I think this intermingled fear of change and contempt for "the other" accounts for a lot of the incredible nastiness of people like Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh. Fear breeds hatred of those who seem to be behind the looming, dreaded changes to the way things have always been (or ought to be!).

Psychologically, I think that projected self-hatred is always a significant factor when contempt is expressed for other human beings. It's pretty obvious in someone like Rush Limbaugh, who mocks the poor and the ill in ways that can only be called pathological, and who had his own addiction issues while calling for harsh legal penalties for "drug abusers" who weren't of his own social class. Pure projection.

These are some initial thoughts. I also recall David Brock's 2002 book 'Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an ex-Conservative', which I might revisit because I think it touches on some of these very issues.

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