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A common lament among political animals of both conservative and liberal stripes is that their counterparts are ill-informed fools led around like sheep by ideologues, zealots and wingnuts. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, described their respective mindsets this way: “Conservatives are a bunch of Hummer-driving, meat-eating, gun-toting, hard-drinking, Bible-thumping, black-and-white-thinking, fist-pounding, shoe-stomping, morally hypocritical blowhards. Liberals are a bunch of hybrid-driving, tofu-eating, tree-hugging, whale-saving, sandal-wearing, bottled-water-drinking, ACLU-supporting, flip-flopping, wishy-washy, namby-pamby bed wetters.”
Either way, these stereotypes are so pervasive and seemingly immutable that neuropsychologists investigated their origins. They discovered that conservatives and liberals demonstrate stark differences in personality, moral values, cognitive processes and even brain structures. Basically, they don’t perceive the same reality.
Research indicates liberals care more about compassion, fairness and equality, while conservatives exhibit a stronger affinity for order, tradition and stable social norms. What’s more, liberals rank high in a personality trait called “openness,” while conservatives show a strong affinity for a trait called “orderliness.”
Translation? Liberals are comfortable altering society if they feel doing so will result in a more equitable, compassionate and just culture, even if the process proves messy and ambiguous. In contrast, conservatives place greater importance on maintaining cultural traditions, and will tolerate some inequalities and injustices provided order and customs are maintained.
Common Ground?
Where liberals and conservatives share common ground is in their susceptibility to “confirmation bias.” This occurs when someone embraces information supporting their already existing political beliefs, while simultaneously ignoring evidence that contradicts those beliefs. The term “fake news” is a classic example. When facts in the media threaten one’s bias, they are labeled “fake.” Mark Twain warned us about this willful blindness when he said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
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The neurological process that makes confirmation bias so powerful involves the pleasure center of the brain. It works like this:
- We embrace a particular belief.
- This belief gets challenged by others or contradictory information, which lights up the threat center in the brain, making us anxious.
- To manage this anxiety, the mind responds by embracing information consistent with its already existing worldview while simultaneously rejecting contradictory information (confirmation bias).
- Once this mental conflict resolves, the pleasure center in the brain lights up, which feels good, further reinforcing the pre-existing bias. When you try to change someone’s political opinion, it’s your arguments up against the pleasure center in their brain. Guess who wins?
Rational Decisions?
Our republic rests on the belief that citizens will make considered, rational decisions when casting their ballots. We don’t.
In a study in Switzerland, children as young as five years old were highly accurate in predicting which candidates would win in parliamentary elections. How did they do it? By looking at their photos. When the mind is deluged with conflicting information, it often takes a mental shortcut, streamlining the decision-making process. Usually, this involves relying on some subconscious variable—a sound bite, a candidate’s appearance, the endorsement of a trusted source, parallels between the candidate’s background and one’s own, or peer pressure from one’s social group. Worse yet, these points of influence are usually subconscious. We don’t realize they are shaping our views. The bottom line is that many voters make an irrational choice based on subconscious cues that they later rationalize as a thoughtful decision.
Most elections end up being more about character than policy, and this one will amplify that trend. If enough of us vote (and please do), this exercise of the collective franchise will say a great deal about the character of our nation.
Not that you asked, but for me, this election is about morality. Consider clarifying those values you hold most dear, and which candidates best align with your moral compass. For yours truly, these values are kindness, mutual respect, fairness, honesty, strength mixed with humility and empathy. To me, the rest—campaign promises, ideology, party—are just details and, too often, distractions.
This isn’t just an election about Biden or Trump, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative. It’s about who we are going to be. It’s a referendum on us.
For more visit philipchard.com.
Philip Chard is a psychotherapist and author with a focus on lasting behavior change, emotional healing and adaptation to health challenges.
To read more Out of My Mind columns by Philip Chard, click here.
