Liberals are open-minded “flip-floppers” and conservatives are mindless, “knee-jerk” drones according to a study conducted by scientists from New York University and UCLA:
Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain
Even in humdrum nonpolitical decisions, liberals and conservatives literally think differently, researchers show.
By Denise Gellene
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. …”
(Snip!)
“… 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. …”
(Snip!)
“… 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. …” – Los Angeles Times
I don’t think this really surprises anybody, does it? If anything, it just scientifically validates much of what liberals have been saying about conservatives all along, and vice-versa. I hope they will continue this study with neoconservatives; I suspect they would press the button every time they saw an “M” OR a “W”, or even a computer monitor…
Filing this one under “Duh!”
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Other bloggers weigh in (H/T to MemeOrandum): The Moderate Voice (Center); Shakesville (Left); Jules Crittenden (Right); The Mahablog (Center); Althouse (Center-Right); Obsidian Wings (Left); The Democratic Daily (Left)
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12:47 pm on September 10th, 2007 1
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3:02 pm on September 10th, 2007 2
Wonder how it would have worked if they pressed a key when shown a handgun and refrained when shown a power drill. Bet the libs would have broken the key pressing it in fear of seeing a gun shaped object.
2:29 am on September 11th, 2007 3
Once again, people confuse “conservative” with “Republican”. Most true conservatives are pissed at the Republican party.