The psychology of conservatism and liberalism
"A meta-analysis by Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, and Sulloway in 2003 analyzed 88 studies from 12 countries, with over 22,000 subjects, and found that death anxiety, intolerance of ambiguity, lack of openness to experience, uncertainty avoidance, need for cognitive closure, need for personal structure, and threat of loss of position or self-esteem all contribute to the degree of one's overall political conservatism.The researchers suggest that these results show that political conservatives stress resistance to change and are motivated by needs that are aimed at reducing threat and uncertainty."
Jost, J.J, Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A.A., & Sulloway, F.J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 339-375.
"Results of the longitudinal study showed that preschool children described as autonomous, expressive, and resourceful tended to be more politically
liberal in their 20s. In contrast, preschool children described as uncomfortable with uncertainty,
inhibited, and rigid tended to be more politically conservative two decades later." Block and Block (2006)
I wonder what the psychology of liberalism is?
Liberalism is characterized by "need for inclusiveness, need for understanding, need for change, and fear of
commitment to a decision or course of action." (Choma, 2007)
“All of us, liberal or conservative, feel as though we've reached our political
opinions by carefully weighing the evidence and exercising our best
judgment. But it could be that all of that careful reasoning is just after-the-
fact self-justification” (Klein, 2006)
Fascinating. I wonder if the Jost paper is more applicable to any extreme idealogy... fascism (Hitler) v totalitarianism (Stalin)?