Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain

[Bitogno]

Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain
Even in humdrum nonpolitical decisions, liberals and conservatives literally think differently, researchers show.
By Denise Gellene, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 10, 2007
Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.

In a simple experiment reported todayin the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at New York University and UCLA show that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.
Previous psychological studies have found that conservatives tend to be more structured and persistent in their judgments whereas liberals are more open to new experiences. The latest study found those traits are not confined to political situations but also influence everyday decisions.

The results show "there are two cognitive styles -- a liberal style and a conservative style," said UCLA neurologist Dr. Marco Iacoboni, who was not connected to the latest research.

Participants were college students whose politics ranged from "very liberal" to "very conservative." They were instructed to tap a keyboard when an M appeared on a computer monitor and to refrain from tapping when they saw a W.

M appeared four times more frequently than W, conditioning participants to press a key in knee-jerk fashion whenever they saw a letter.

Each participant was wired to an electroencephalograph that recorded activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that detects conflicts between a habitual tendency (pressing a key) and a more appropriate response (not pressing the key). Liberals had more brain activity and made fewer mistakes than conservatives when they saw a W, researchers said. Liberals and conservatives were equally accurate in recognizing M.

Researchers got the same results when they repeated the experiment in reverse, asking another set of participants to tap when a W appeared.

Frank J. Sulloway, a researcher at UC Berkeley's Institute of Personality and Social Research who was not connected to the study, said the results "provided an elegant demonstration that individual differences on a conservative-liberal dimension are strongly related to brain activity."

Analyzing the data, Sulloway said liberals were 4.9 times as likely as conservatives to show activity in the brain circuits that deal with conflicts, and 2.2 times as likely to score in the top half of the distribution for accuracy.

Sulloway said the results could explain why President Bush demonstrated a single-minded commitment to the Iraq war and why some people perceived Sen. John F. Kerry, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat who opposed Bush in the 2004 presidential race, as a "flip-flopper" for changing his mind about the conflict.

Based on the results, he said, liberals could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.

"There is ample data from the history of science showing that social and political liberals indeed do tend to support major revolutions in science," said Sulloway, who has written about the history of science and has studied behavioral differences between conservatives and liberals.

Lead author David Amodio, an assistant professor of psychology at New York University, cautioned that the study looked at a narrow range of human behavior and that it would be a mistake to conclude that one political orientation was better. The tendency of conservatives to block distracting information could be a good thing depending on the situation, he said.

Political orientation, he noted, occurs along a spectrum, and positions on specific issues, such as taxes, are influenced by many factors, including education and wealth. Some liberals oppose higher taxes and some conservatives favor abortion rights.

Still, he acknowledged that a meeting of the minds between conservatives and liberals looked difficult given the study results.

"Does this mean liberals and conservatives are never going to agree?" Amodio asked. "Maybe it suggests one reason why they tend not to get along."

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-politics10sep10,1,5376455.story

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

Participants were college students whose politics ranged from "very liberal" to "very conservative." They were instructed to tap a keyboard when an M appeared on a computer monitor and to refrain from tapping when they saw a W.

Sounds like they just looked at people's "political views" field on facebook...

[Flamming_Python]

Sounds like Conservatives are just more dumb, not different p-)

[Zoomie]

Sounds like Conservatives are just more dumb, not different p-)

Yeah, that can be totally be derived by pushing an M and W on the keyboard. :roll:

[BugHunt]

Sounds like Conservatives are just more dumb, not different p-)


Special is the more acceptable term i think :-D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp6_oFSh_ss

[ltrowley]

Obviously flawed methods used and doesn't explain 'alternative' views or why people change their minds over the course of a lifetime. Far too overly simplistic test imho

[Shellshock1918]

It boils down to collectivist thinking vs individual thinking.

individualist thinking is the belief that the individual is to be promoted and not sacrificed for the benefit of the group.

Collectivist thinking is the idea that the group is more important than the individual and that the individual must be sacrificed for the better of the group.

But if you think about it, a group is just a concept, its not a a real thing. You can't touch a forest, you touch trees. What is a group? A series of individuals.

A lynch mob is the perfect example of collectivist thinking and of what a pure democracy would be. Everyone gets what they want...except the one being lynched.

So you have to say, wait a minute, maybe we should have a system where decisions are made for the group, but where the individual is not harmed by these decisions, in any way.
That is a Republic.

[Moledet]

It's pretty clear that leftists suffer from masochism, self-hate and self-destruction and are seriously delusional.
They might be more open to new ideas, though all these ideas are f*cked up.

[futurepilot2004]

It's pretty clear that leftists suffer from masochism, self-hate and self-destruction.
They might be more open to new ideas, though all these ideas are f*cked up.

Its clear right wingers are idiots...... :roll:

[Moledet]

Its clear right wingers are idiots...... :roll:
I once heard the chairman of an organization called Professors for a Strong Israel over the radio, he was asked by the host, "how come most intellectuals are leftists while your organization is made only from Exact science people?", he answered, "it's simple. For us 1+1 always equals 2".
Being open to new ideas is great but not when they make no sense and truths that have been proven and shaped for thousands of years are a lot more correct than new ideas that are just a nice concept.

[dangerclose]

Neocon is a label the left likes to use as a pejorative. But a neocon is a former liberal. You make the conclusion.

[Thor]

Far too overly simplistic test imho
Indeed.

Funny thing is that it's the other way around in Europe.

In the US the conservative base is rural and less educated. In Europe left-wingers are mainly rural and less educated.

[Guilelmus]

http://tinypic.com/52yo6d4.gif





In Europe left-wingers are mainly rural and less educated.
Rubbish. Most leftwingers live in cities whereas the more conservative live at the countryside. And lefties in fact are insofar more educated as they more often have graduated and academic degrees - and hold positions to discriminate at right-wing/conservatives at universities...

[Bitogno]

In Europe left-wingers are mainly rural and less educated.

I don't know for other european countries but for France it is too simplistic.

[Hollis]

Actually there is a lot of information on the Right Brain and Left brain how we think, Artist tend to be right brain, Engineers, left brain.

Yes is does effect ones behavior as does world view etc.

Cognitive abilities are important. It is also important to understand them especially if you want to know the pros and cons in "your way" of thinking.

[futurepilot2004]

Indeed.
In Europe left-wingers are mainly rural and less educated.

Yeah.....sure. Its usually the complete opposite.

[Hollis]

Yeah.....sure. Its usually the complete opposite.


I don't think this is based on left brain/right brain aspect of thinking, but more on education and cultural training.

There are studies that demonstrate that the more education a person has, the more "Tolerant" of other views they are. We can inter change tolerant for liberal. but liberal in this cases is not the political definition of "Liberal". Big Difference. Same with conservative, a person can be very left and conserative.

[Thor]

Most leftwingers live in cities
That might be the case in Germany while in most other countries it isn't (and rural doesn't mean that they don't live in cities). Neither does it take away the fact that the left-wing base in all of Europe is either rural and less educated or live in large cities and is less educated. Insinuating that a highly educated person would vote for e.g. a social democratic party is simply ridiculous.


And lefties in fact are insofar more educated as they more often have graduated and academic degrees
No, the intellectual elite is liberal, but their left-wing base is poorly educated.


and hold positions to discriminate at right-wing/conservatives at universities...
That is however true both in America as well as in Europe.

[el borracho]

Indeed.

Funny thing is that it's the other way around in Europe.

In the US the conservative base is rural and less educated. In Europe left-wingers are mainly rural and less educated.

In the US, lot of urban, less educated people side with the left. Many American liberals believe that the government's sole purpose is to help the least fortunate. That idea appeals to the urban poor a great deal since they basically get something for nothing. Those in more remote areas without access to easy government handouts are more likely to have a self-sufficient mindset, which aligns more with the right. Education is becoming a non-issue since there are plenty of schools and universities that cater to all political attitudes.

[Thor]

Let's go with what we know i.e. red and blue states.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

I have seen some contrived, half-assed studies in my time, but this one is a real beaut. Not only have they shown no connection at all between the keyboard and actual cognitive processes, they didn't even bother to verify if their subjects where who/what they claimed to be. Utterly worthless to everybody except the tenured professors who get paid no matter what academic bilge water they produce.

[Kitsune]

I really do not want to make a habit out of agreeing with 2sheds, but here I second his opinion. This study seems so doubtful that it borders on the ludicrous. Next time they might consider to vivisect the students and weigh their brains...who knows what interesting differences will show up then.

[stoddy9311]

they should do the same experiment again with electrodes attached to their genitals.


it would be hard to attach the electrodes to the lefties, as they have the same genitalia as a Hamster.

and it would be hard to attach electrodes to right-winger, as they have Large Manly Balls, like a bull.

[tsuri]

That might be the case in Germany while in most other countries it isn't (and rural doesn't mean that they don't live in cities). Neither does it take away the fact that the left-wing base in all of Europe is either rural and less educated or live in large cities and is less educated. Insinuating that a highly educated person would vote for e.g. a social democratic party is simply ridiculous.


Rural left? Not traditionally. left wing in Europe is usually workers(Communists, Socialist, Social Democrats) or the urban youth (Greens, Anarchists etc)
Only in countries where agricultural parties are counted as left, you would see this

But it is all arbitrarily drawn. The names left and right are meaningless because the cleavages in different countries are different. (That is why American political labels are completely useless in Europe and vice versa)

In Germany there is for example a strong State - Church cleavage that influences Left- "Right" relations, while the Worker - Capital cleavage plays no part.

You cannot deduce someone's intelligence from the party he votes for. Stastically there is a correlation for some parties but this comes from the social setting. National Socialist Voters today have a very low IQ, because most of them belong to the unemployed NEET Group which traditionally is not composed of the brightest people. But that does not equal stupid = rightwing.

The same can be said about the academic left and the economic right. Which is kinda self explanatory. If you were a communist, would you work as a manager for a multimillion dollar corporation?


On topic:

The study is interesting but I strongly doubt a causality. For that the reasons for people to join parties are too diverse

[2Sheds_Jackson]

So far I'm liking both the brain-weighing and ball shocking ideas.

[usa320]

I have seen some contrived, half-assed studies in my time, but this one is a real beaut. Not only have they shown no connection at all between the keyboard and actual cognitive processes, they didn't even bother to verify if their subjects where who/what they claimed to be. Utterly worthless to everybody except the tenured professors who get paid no matter what academic bilge water they produce.

quoted, for complete and utter truth.

this reminds me of a study done many years ago by a ceratain Lawrence Bobo and Dr. Frederick Licari from the University of Wisconsin... they tried to use basic vocabulary tests as a means to show that those who had recieved the modern liberal education as we understand it, were much more tolerant of new political ideas and groups, some of which were largely considered offensive or unpopular among the common citizenry....I personally found the method they used to reach their conclusion was ultimately completely inadequate and flawed... and they, like this study, failed to show any conclusive link between basic cognitive skills and political beliefs.

[Rifleman]

I have seen some contrived, half-assed studies in my time, but this one is a real beaut. Not only have they shown no connection at all between the keyboard and actual cognitive processes, they didn't even bother to verify if their subjects where who/what they claimed to be. Utterly worthless to everybody except the tenured professors who get paid no matter what academic bilge water they produce.


Now, now 2Sheds

"the part of the brain that detects conflicts between a habitual tendency (pressing a key) and a more appropriate response (not pressing the key)"

You have to give them some credit, if the above is correct they found scientific proof that some people are "laid back" and some people are "high strung."

Umm...I suppose we all knew that, well yes then, Utterly worthless to everybody except the tenured professors who get paid no matter what academic bilge water they produce.

Carry On!

[kosse]

^ In Finland social democrats and leftists are mostly workers or hippies from big cities with industrial background. Rural people (i.e land owners and farmers) vote for Centre party which is slighty right wing.

[Kitsune]

So far I'm liking both the brain-weighing and ball shocking ideas.

Well, there is no reason why both treatments could not be combined. It's only important to remember that the ball shocking has to be done first...


There should be no problem to find subjects. A message on the blackboard reading:
"Volunteers needed for experimental electro-convulsive treatment and subsequent vivisection. Payment: 50 bucks."
should do the trick. I am sure that these days even most university students have no idea what those words mean. (Well, I do. That means those Latin lessions were good for something, after all. Hrhr.)

[dangerclose]

they should do the same experiment again with electrodes attached to their genitals.


it would be hard to attach the electrodes to the lefties, as they have the same genitalia as a Hamster.

and it would be hard to attach electrodes to right-winger, as they have Large Manly Balls, like a bull.


That would make a good bumper sticker.


not really

[stoddy9311]

I have just been given a £2million pound grant to do my own testing.

I need volunteers to be kicked in the knackers, by myself wearing my steel toe capped boots.

I need to see which nut swells up the most? if the left nut swells up more than the right one, that means you are a Commie, tree-hugging pinko....


if the right one swells up more than the left, that means you are a Jack-boot wearing fascist.

I will pay you £50 per nut (gentlemen or lady-boys only)