Yet another study has found evidence linking conservative thinking to fear, and small ‘l’ liberalism to openness.
University College London researchers considered previous research that found “conservatives are more sensitive to threat or anxiety in the face of uncertainty, while liberals tend to be more open to new experiences”.
They decided to look at the brain’s structure to see whether this was reflected physically, and found it was - people who identify as liberal have larger anterior cingulate cortexes while conservatives have larger amygdalas, which is exactly what I always say.
In fact I’ve been known to shout “Show us your oversized amygdala!” at passing Tea Party members.
Author Ryota Kanai said they don’t know which came first, the thinking or the brain differences, and emphasised that the exact relationship between the brain and political orientation needed more work.
The findings – published in the latest Current Biology journal - will come as no surprise to people who read letters to the editor or comments on opinion websites like The Punch.
For example – last week I wrote a piece on Islam and beheading, arguing that a Victorian MP was wrong to say Islam sanctioned beheading when the vast majority of Muslims were against it.
The reactions were, on one side, fear of Islam, with people arguing that it is a ‘death cult’, a religion of violence, terror, extremism. Even those who conceded that most Muslims are not in favour of decapitation as a punishment saw Islam as a great threat.
On the other side were those who were open to Islam, believing most Muslims are good and only a minority were in favour of extreme measures such as beheading.
Euthanasia is another hot button topic that splits people between fear and openness.
On the one hand people see any form of voluntary euthanasia legislation as the first step on a slippery slope to murder and a loss of the value of human life.
On the other hand, as Advertiser reader J.S. Butler of Dulwich pointed out, those in favour believe humanity is “fundamentally decent”.
You can see the same pattern reflected in almost every controversial issue. The conservatives look at the worst-case scenario, while the liberal side is more optimistic.
And then there’s climate change, where it’s the exact reverse. And then there are all those people who are conservative on one issue and liberal on the other. Or change their affiliations in the course of life. Or see the shades of grey in each argument.
And then there’s the very important point to make – which is that while people see fear as a negative emotion, it’s actually a very useful emotion. Fear helps us survive, so maybe the conservatives are right and we should all be very pessimistic about human nature.
Or maybe the issue here is that fear is our greatest motivator, which is why all those with vested interests use it with such devastating effectiveness.
So politicians, lobbyists, and even academics and columnists and advocacy groups know that if they want to shift an argument, they just have to press all the right amygdalic buttons.
Maybe what we really need is to work out the exact level of fear necessary to make the best decisions.
Right, that’s me out. My greater anterior cingulate cortex is aching with all this effort. What do you think?
Previous studies on the politics of brains:
In October 2010, University of California researchers said they had identified a “liberal gene”, which, when combined with an active social life, led people to be more empathetic and interested in others’ points of view.
They would therefore be exposed to more diversity and thus be more liberal, they hypothesized.
Another study earlier this year by the University of Nebraska looked at “gaze cues” and found the liberal gaze is more likely to follow another’s on a computer screen, showing they were more responsive to others, while conservatives were more autonomous.
Another UK experiment late last year - although a lightweight one prompted by Colin Firth - came to similar conclusions as the most recent one, linking conservatism to fear and anxiety.
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