Are you a born conservative (or liberal)?

[Ordie]

Are you a born conservative (or liberal)?

A new study suggests that your political attitudes are wired in from the beginning.
By Denise Gellene
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

September 19, 2008

Die-hard liberals and conservatives aren't made; they're born. It's literally in their DNA.

That's the implication of a study by a group of researchers who wanted to see if there was a biological basis for people's political attitudes.

They found to their surprise that opinions on such contentious subjects as gun control, pacifism and capital punishment are strongly associated with physiological traits that are probably present at birth.

The key is the differing levels of fear that people naturally feel.

"What is revolutionary about this paper is that it shows the path from genes to physiology to behavior," said James H. Fowler, a political science professor at UC San Diego who was not involved in the research.

The researchers, whose findings were published today in the journal Science, looked at 46 people who fell into two camps -- liberals who supported foreign aid, immigration, pacifism and gun control; and conservatives who advocated defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism and the Iraq war.

In an initial experiment, subjects were shown a series of images that included a bloody face, maggots in a wound and a spider on a frightened face. A device measured the electrical conductance of their skin, a physiological reaction that indicates fear.

In a second experiment, researchers measured eye blinks -- another indicator of fear -- as subjects responded to sudden blasts of noise.

People with strongly conservative views were three times more fearful than staunch liberals after the effects of gender, age, income and education were factored out.

Kevin B. Smith, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a study author, said conservatives were more vigilant to environmental threats, and he speculated that this innate tendency led them to support policies that protect the social order.

Fowler said the study added to the growing research suggesting that over millions of years, humans have developed two cognitive styles -- conservative and liberal. Cautious conservatives prevented societies from taking undue risks, while more flexible liberals fostered cooperation.

"For the species to survive, you need both," he said.

But Jon Krosnick, a political science professor at Stanford University, said it was impossible to draw any conclusions from a study with so few people, all from a small Midwestern town. What's more, he said, it's just too squishy interpreting people's reactions.

"I don't believe any of this," he said. "The people who are most scared are less in favor of gun control. Why wouldn't they be more in favor? Because they need guns to fight the bad guys? You can make up a story in either direction."

The study is the latest to challenge the long-standing dogma that upbringing and environmental factors determine political attitudes. Recent studies have found that identical twins -- who share the same genetic inheritance -- think alike on political issues more often than other siblings.

Last year, researchers reported that the brains of conservatives and liberals process information differently.

None of this, however, suggests that people are slaves to their biology, researchers agree.

The latest study "does not mean that people can't sit down and think about the issues and come to some logical compromise," Smith said. "What it does mean is that it is going to be hard work."

Source:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-politics19-2008sep19,0,1312083,print.story

[Alpheus]

The study is the latest to challenge the long-standing dogma that upbringing and environmental factors determine political attitudes. Recent studies have found that identical twins -- who share the same genetic inheritance -- think alike on political issues more often than other siblings.Bull****. Identical twins overwhelmingly grow up together, and are exposed to the same environments and conditions, of course they will have similar political views.


In an initial experiment, subjects were shown a series of images that included a bloody face, maggots in a wound and a spider on a frightened face. A device measured the electrical conductance of their skin, a physiological reaction that indicates fear.

In a second experiment, researchers measured eye blinks -- another indicator of fear -- as subjects responded to sudden blasts of noise.

People with strongly conservative views were three times more fearful than staunch liberals after the effects of gender, age, income and education were factored out.Does this mean liberals like blood, maggots and spiders? I always knew they were sick in the head. p-)

[Ordie]

Does this mean liberals like blood, maggots and spiders? I always knew they were sick in the head. p-)

Only if they are organic.

[Skutatos]

It must be genetic, as standard of living increases, so does the number of liberals. They can seemingly only survive in soft societies. Imagine Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid in a hunter-gatherer society. They would be smilodon sh!t in no time.

Also next time someone calls me a neo-con Im gonna call them racist.

[INAT]

Interesting so it is more about temperance(in the psycholgical sense)
than a nature vs. nurture thing.


I feel differenet about every subject.To say you think this so you are 100% a liberal or conservative is foolish.I beleive in nothing! nooothing!


To make up your mind before your hear the specific issue makes you a f***ing idiot.(No one spoecific)

Just common sense and wisdom can take care of that.


As usual good post O-dog.

[Ordie]

It must be genetic, as standard of living increases, so does the number of liberals. They can seemingly only survive in soft societies. Imagine Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid in a hunter-gatherer society. They would be smilodon sh!t in no time.

Also next time someone calls me a neo-con Im gonna call them racist.

Nancy Pelosi's father was the Mayor of Baltimore. She grew up in a era where politics was a bloodsport.

Harry Ried grew up as a son of a miner and washer in Searchlight, Nevada (Lower wedge of Nevada). I don't think the average urbanite liberal would last 48 hours in Searchlight.

[Invisigoth]

Intelligence = Liberal. The end.

[chauncy republicans]

Liberals are a result of human interference in the process of natural selection,
hardly intelligent to say the very least.

[phigment]

What about people who don't identify with the conservative or liberal labels? And how did they manage to pull conclusive results from that small of a group of people? This study smells like bull****.

[vryhpyammoadded]

This only proves that the limbic system of liberals is underdeveloped making them less aware of their environment and easier to roll for their wallet. Well, only if you disguise yourself as a smiling politician.

[Mu-Meson]

Same study in Newsweek article:


They were less sensitive to the threatening images, and more likely to support open immigration policies, pacifism and gun control. But according to the research, that's hardly desirable, since it suggests that liberals may display mammal-on-a-hot-rock languor in the face of legitimate threats. "They actually don't show any difference in physical response between a picture of a spider on someone's face and a picture of a bunny," Alford tells NEWSWEEK.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/159540/output/print

Dude. That is cold. I guess we can't call liberals "bleeding hearts" anymore, since clearly they don't have one!

[Macs.]

Intelligence = Liberal. The end.

Ignorance = Bliss.

[CMNot]

Dirty liberals embracing liberal ideas such as democracy. Kill 'em all.

[vryhpyammoadded]

Dirty liberals embracing liberal ideas such as democracy. Kill 'em all.
And gun/religion clinging conservatives embracing the more advanced technology of the Republic will be very effective at doing so being more aware of threats they are.p-)

[Polygon]

I still think that, for the most part, humans are a product of their environment. If you're fostered to believe in a certain ideology, chances are, you will.

[Behan]

We are all born weak, incapable of caring for ourselves, and entirely dependent on the efforts of those around us. Some choose to remain as such through adulthood.

We refer to these genetic anomolies as Liberals.

[SOG]

Liberals are a result of human interference in the process of natural selection,
hardly intelligent to say the very least.

Lima Oscar Lima, Over! Almost fell out of my seat reading that from you!

[Gunbird]

We are all born weak, incapable of caring for ourselves, and entirely dependent on the efforts of those around us. Some choose to remain as such through adulthood.

We refer to these genetic anomolies as Liberals.

Actually, Liberals are more independant, educated, and financially well off. It's no coincidence that the more well off, secure, and stable a country is, the more liberals you have.

It is conservatives who are dependant, a consequence of living in more rural, isolated areas of the country.

Conservatives are also more sociopathic, and authoritarian.

Authoritarian Dynamics and Unethical Decision Making: High Social Dominance Orientation Leaders and High Right-Wing Authoritarianism Followers. By: Son Hing, Leanne S., Bobocel, D. Ramona, Zanna, Mark P., McBride, Maxine V., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 0022-3514, 2007, Vol. 92, Issue 1

[Behan]

That's awesome how you said that like you actually believe it....

Wait....


Actually, Liberals are more independant, educated, and financially well off. It's no coincidence that the more well off, secure, and stable a country is, the more liberals you have.

It is conservatives who are dependant, a consequence of living in more rural, isolated areas of the country.

Conservatives are also more sociopathic, and authoritarian.

Authoritarian Dynamics and Unethical Decision Making: High Social Dominance Orientation Leaders and High Right-Wing Authoritarianism Followers. By: Son Hing, Leanne S., Bobocel, D. Ramona, Zanna, Mark P., McBride, Maxine V., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 0022-3514, 2007, Vol. 92, Issue 1

[Behan]

Let's just hold your theory up to some daylight and see what shakes out, shall we?

LIBERAL HQ

Viewing some recent election results, there is no doubt that Washington DC clearly is the nation's epicenter of liberalism, ground zero (if you will) of the entitlement generation.

John F. Kerry (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004/johnkerry/) (D)


183,876

90
George W. Bush (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004/georgewbush/) * (R)


19,007

9
Other


2,517

1


EDUCATION

A study (http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/1695/study.html) produced by The State Education Agency has found that 36% of Washington D.C. residents are functionally illiterate. People who are functionally illiterate have some ability to read and write, but not enough to be able to fully function in everyday life. They have difficulty with crucial tasks such as filling out job (http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/736/job_and_career_tips.html) applications, reading maps, understanding bus schedules, reading newspaper articles, etc. (The rest: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/183792/more_than_onethird_of_washington_dc.html)

CRIME

SELECTED WORST CITIES
MURDER (LATE-1990s)
EUROPE AND USA

CITY

MURDERS
PER 100,000



(1) Washington, D.C., USA

69.3

(2) Philadelphia, USA

27.4

(3) Dallas, USA

24.8

(4) Los Angeles, USA

22.8

http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html

BILL OF RIGHTS

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the District's longtime ban on keeping handguns in homes is unconstitutional.

The District's law bars all handguns unless they were registered before 1976; it was passed that year to try to curb gun violence, but it has come under attack during the past three decades in Congress and in the courts. Yesterday's ruling guts key parts of the law but does not address provisions that effectively bar private citizens from carrying guns outside the home.
Fenty (D) said the city is committed to pursuing additional appeals, adding: "I am personally deeply disappointed and frankly outraged by this decision. It flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence in the District of Columbia."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902416.html

ECONOMY
The District's poverty rate is the highest in nearly a decade, and the employment rate for African American adults is at a 20-year low, according to a study to be released today.
Although the District's robust economy has spurred job growth, higher salaries, a construction boom and neighborhood revitalization, the city's poorest and least-educated residents have been left behind -- living "on the other side" of the city's "gleaming economy," the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute says.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007102302230.html



I could go on and on (and on), but it bores me.






Actually, Liberals are more independant, educated, and financially well off. It's no coincidence that the more well off, secure, and stable a country is, the more liberals you have.

It is conservatives who are dependant, a consequence of living in more rural, isolated areas of the country.

Conservatives are also more sociopathic, and authoritarian.

Authoritarian Dynamics and Unethical Decision Making: High Social Dominance Orientation Leaders and High Right-Wing Authoritarianism Followers. By: Son Hing, Leanne S., Bobocel, D. Ramona, Zanna, Mark P., McBride, Maxine V., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 0022-3514, 2007, Vol. 92, Issue 1

[vryhpyammoadded]

Conservatives are also more sociopathic, and authoritarian.
Indeed…How else can the American left keep a death grip on others people’s wealth and liberty?

I mean wouldn’t you cave into the demands of the IRS to fork over your hard earned wealth to provide for entitlement schmucks both rich and poor who leveraged political corruption over the past thirty plus years to reap all sorts of free rides and money for nothing or, obey law enforcement when they kick in your door for refusing to support an increasingly criminal, meddling, authoritarian and sociopathic government controlled by an entrenched, corrupt, conservative managerial elite?

I’m sorry, are we speaking of Conservative in its traditional Autocratic, Aristocratic definition or the warped, bizarro world double speak American version relabeled as “liberal” or maybe its oft recycled “progressive” moniker so favored by early Marxist oligarchs like Stalin who was simply just another poisonous Aristocratic, Autocrat in a shiny new, ideological candy shell?

[Somalimafia]

1234567890

[LEB101]

Intelligence = Liberal. The end.
letting women murder kids before there even born . wanting to talk to crazy ahmedinijad without conditions thats not intelligent im not american and i dont live in america but i know a little something about ameircan politics and my freind liberal is as dumb as it gets:bash:

[CMNot]

letting women murder kids before there even born

Yes, to be truly progressive we must stone them to death.

[Polygon]

*Cue baby joke...

[wildcat]

I agree liberal are more free thinkers, but the dems are not liberals, they are socialists,

Libertarians are liberals in the true sense.

conservatives values are based of traditional beliefs, and don't like change.

I am a liberal in some ways and a conservative, I have a base of beliefs I do not want to change from, but liberal in other ways.

I also hate socialism, the 3rd way(a compromise from Socialism, or socialism in disguise), and capitalism.

[Hollis]

Yes, to be truly progressive we must stone them to death.


I think the expression is, "To be truly progressive we must get stoned", I think inhaling is a part of that. That would leave Bill Clinton out.

[Paya]

When I was younger, I was a conservative nationalist. Up until now, I thought I had become a lefty through age and wisdom. It turns out I was genetically predisposed to be a tree-hugger.

Oh, the irony of it all!

[Behan]

Silly hippy, trees are for burning.

[Marshall_Nord]

It is conservatives who are dependant, a consequence of living in more rural, isolated areas of the country.

LOL, do you actually believe this statement? Living in a rural area, I am forced to be independent because I can't rely on the police, the fire department, municipal sewer and water, snow removal, tornado siren, etc.

Naturally, developing in this environment has given me utter contempt for dependent weaklings. p-)

[Kitsune]

The researchers, whose findings were published today in the journal Science, looked at 46 people who fell into two camps -- liberals who supported foreign aid, immigration, pacifism and gun control; and conservatives who advocated defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism and the Iraq war.
Damn. I support immigration, gun control, defense spending and patriotism while being against too much foreign aid, pacifism, captial punishment and the Iraq war. I must be some weird kind of transgenic mutant. Perhaps I am a libervatist, then. Or perhaps a conseral. :|

[CPL Trevoga]

Speaking from pure personal experience, I can say that your environment probably the best indicator of your political alignment and sh*t. I grew up pretty conservative and hard core, but now I've grown old and more wealthy, I've become kinda liberal, controlled violence kinda liberal. There are motherf*ckers in this life, that just need killin'. No way around it. I'm gonna vote for Obama.

P.S. If you're girlfriend or a whore sucked your c**k, you're a God damn liberal. Stop denying it.

[Power_serj]

Labels are retarded. I am what I am. Someone quote me for the truth.

[PeterRJG]

Never as long as I live can I divide the world into liberals and conservatives - mainly as the Liberal Party in my country are the conservatives. :D

[Hot Lips]

"traits that are probably present at birth"

Test group is too small and I don't see how those tests tie the fears of an adult to fear coded in their DNA. More likely that their view and fears are a direct result of what they were taught by the family and friends with the most influence on them.... who were taught by their parents.... and so on.

I think it would have made more sense to include a group of die hard conservatives/liberals that were born of the same, but adopted and raised by just the opposite to show upbringing played no part in their views as an adult.

[Power_serj]

This test is full of fail. It does not even take into consideration liberals who support gun rights and many other considerations.

[Macs.]

I am Pro-Good and Anti-Bad.

[CPL Trevoga]

Never as long as I live can I divide the world into liberals and conservatives - mainly as the Liberal Party in my country are the conservatives. :D

Thank you. We Americano-centric tend to forget that in other parts of the world, "Liberal" means very opposite of political spectrum. There you have it folks, a very conservative baby in America is very liberal in Europe.

[PeterRJG]

Thank you. We Americano-centric tend to forget that in other parts of the world, "Liberal" means very opposite of political spectrum. There you have it folks, a very conservative baby in America is very liberal in Europe.

Not quite. The Liberal Party are named that because they pursue a policy of economic liberalism rather than the social liberalism Americans tend to associate the word "liberal" with.

They're a conservative party in nearly every way.

And lastly, I'm not from Europe.

[Behan]

I find your standpoint quite controversial and offensive.


I am Pro-Good and Anti-Bad.

[brainplay]

Actually, Liberals are more independant, educated, and financially well off. It's no coincidence that the more well off, secure, and stable a country is, the more liberals you have.

It is conservatives who are dependant, a consequence of living in more rural, isolated areas of the country.

Conservatives are also more sociopathic, and authoritarian.

I do believe you managed to decredit your post through the act of posting. Thats an incredible feat. It also tends to make you seem more "elitist" which is a label that tends to follow liberals. In fact many liberals are just as dense to issues as conservatives. One can point out that studies done in universities tend to show significant more conservatives are graduating from college. But then conservatives aren't really known for having drumming circles for peace, anti-government rallies, or just being really loud at school.

Being a "free-thinker" has nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism. There are plenty who hold that title that sit on both sides although once again one side tends to have more that are happy to wear it on their should and say "look at me I'm a free-thinker!"

[loganinkosovo]

So......did they factor in all the thousands upon thousands of dead people, Felons and illegal aliens who vote for the left every election???

[Klatuu]

I'm a self-convert.

I was a practicing Liberal Democrat until I was 26 or so, thanks to upbringing and influence of public schooling & pop culture, and because I loved the idea of Freedom and thought that's what "liberalism" meant. Even when I was a soldier in the U.S. Army during the Reagan years I despised Republicans for wanting to tell people where they could stick their ****s. Later on I realized that the truth is that contemporary Liberals want to control everything except where people stick their ****s.

The events of 1989-1991 showed me I'd been at least partly wrong about Reagan. Got serious about a few things, went back and finished undergraduate degree, did a lot of self-study on American philosophy (all the framers and later guys like Emerson & Thoreau), and a whole bunch of economics, especially "Austrian" and Free Market stuff. Frederich Bastiat's The Law (http://www.constitution.org/law/bastiat.htm) made a lasting impression, too. Along they way discovered that, when I questioned all I knew and answered those questions, I was actually a right-leaning Libertarian.

What passes for "Liberalism" in the present-day US has barely more than the vestiges of the Liberalism of the founder's time. It is now little more than statist, quasi-European Marxist clap trap promulgated by a glut of draft dodgers from the late 1960's that got draft deferments by hiding in school and getting advanced degrees in sociology and general worthlessness. They spew their bull**** to starry-eyed kids who, anxious to avoid being conformists, go right along with them :)

Of course, along the way I put a lot of miles on my ****, and maybe if I hadn't I still be more concerned with that :)

Anything you do that doesn't directly infringe on the rights of someone else should be legal, and that goes for anything from owning a machine gun to smoking dope to marrying someone with same genitalia as you to keeping damned near every dollar you earn honestly.

A Barrack Obama presidency will be the antithesis of those values, although most Libs are absolutely blind to it, and the government will encroach ever farther into our lives, for what they consider your own damned good. The people backing him are much, much worse then he is himself. He's not much more than a trojan horse in that respect.

"The government that governs least, governs best" said a man often quoted and rarely understood by people today.

I do not exist to serve the state.


"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." Norman Thomas, former U.S. Socialist Presidential Candidate and co founder ACLU

[Power_serj]

According to the political compass I am a "neo-libertarianist".

Economic Left/Right: 3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.97

[non]

Liberals are a result of human interference in the process of natural selection,
hardly intelligent to say the very least.
Yeah, kinda like the pill.
("natural selection"? Pfft, godless heathen.)

This study falls on the onion peeling argument of nature vs. nurture. The two are too inter-twined to separate cohesively.
It was an 'interesting' experiment, but were female subjects involved?

[INAT]

Ignorance = Bliss.



Macs I most certainly will give credit where it is due and that was
a great quote. No braggin or joking your stock went up.

I know your are known for the clown of MP.net (no offense you can be funny) But to be witty you MUST be intelligent. So I don't know if it the Jager,Bass Ale or Grey Goose or ganja r depression but that was a great quote.



**Memo to self no more drunk typing** I would say it sober just not like that.http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=57447&stc=1&d=1221892826

[tluassa]

Lets see ... my grandfather was a Nazi ( seriously, he joined the NSDAP in 1945) my parents are both Green / Social Democrats, and it turns out that Im a liberal / anarchist.

But the DNA thing is an interesting theory :)

[LEB101]

liberals are disgusting

[akd]

So I've seen this story plastered across on the main news sites, and the timing is just awesomely convenient, but I had to read several versions before I learned that the study used a sample of 46 people, and that all these people were from the same town. I guess this is what we call political science.

[drinking das boot]

liberal parents make really snotty liberal douches concerned with dumb stuff like the writing prose of james joyce

conservative parents make really dumb ****heads concerned with dumb stuff like how awesome the new upper on their m4 clone is

[akd]

liberal parents make really snotty liberal douches concerned with dumb stuff like the writing prose of james joyce

Heh. I guess you fall under the latter.

[Gunbird]

liberals are disgusting
Nice contribution.

[DaGreatRV]

I think the US needs more political parties, that'll help overcome such short sighted black/white world view.


And yes also in this nation the largest liberal party is seen as conservative.

[koalorka]

I used to be a liberal as an adolescent but once life kicks in, sacrifice and responsibility take precedence over idealistic fantasies. In my view, people over 16 and who consider themselves liberals or leftists are intellectually challenged to some degree or have some critical character flaws.

[Fargin]

My best friend is my political opposite. Got no problem with him being liberal(In Europe Liberal actually means Liberal, oppose to commie). There's more to life than politics, don't be so one dimensional. That's what you outgrow, not your political standpoint. Unfortunately outgrowing stupid is a myth.

[Power_serj]

I think the US needs more political parties, that'll help overcome such short sighted black/white world view.


And yes also in this nation the largest liberal party is seen as conservative.

It really depends what aspect you're talking about.

It really depends what you're talking about. Conservative in the United States is talking about social conservatism and "conserving" the liberal economy. Liberalism is about social liberalism, and changing ("liberal" meaning not established by tradition) the economy.

[teoretikern]

Thank you. We Americano-centric tend to forget that in other parts of the world, "Liberal" means very opposite of political spectrum. There you have it folks, a very conservative baby in America is very liberal in Europe.

True. Here in Sweden, if you say in public you are a liberal, you say that you want to cut taxes and limit the governments influence - a blasphemy in the american liberal's view. And it is the opposite, it is the bigger cities that are liberals in the swedish sense, and less denser areas that are socialists. The swedish liberal maybe would enjoy reading Robert Nozicks Anarcy, State and Utopia, a book called "the most dangerous projectile ever aimed at the welfare state" by one of the most prominent socialists in Sweden.


http://www.timbro.se/press/images/big/5026.jpg

The capital, Stockholm, has a far bigger portion of swedish liberals than socialists. In the latest election, the local Social Democratic leader in Stockholm ran out almost crying from where she was sitting and watching the election, when she did find out that the liberals had won an overwhelming victory.

Friedrich Hayek had a good book, The fatal Conceit - The Errors of Socialism, where he had a chapter called "Our poisoned language". This means that words can among many people have a different meaning than they might think.


http://www.timbro.se/images/bokomslag/75680327.jpg

For instance, in this thread some said that "liberals" are not sociopathic. The Social Democrats in Sweden have hated the family almost as long as they have existed. The plans to terminate the family have existed as far back as the 1930's. In the socialist's view, to exterminate the family is a "social reform". An individual will in the socialists' vision have no ties to his family, but instead to some sort of "collective", some blob. Instead of sitting home and speaking with his family, a person in socialism (american "liberalism") will spend his spare time in a public place, like a museum where he is watching some black and white pictures by some anxiety ridden performer. One socialistic tool is day care center and school, and the socialists are very openly speaking about it, they are not denying that. The result? Swedish pupils are on average in international tests when it comes to knowledge, but they are amongst the worst when it comes to behavior. Even Lenin tried to exterminate the family, but he changed his mind when he saw that the children turned out to be... sociopaths!