Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative. At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.
Have you ever wondered what it is about Conservatives that makes them so intolerant, so cocksure, so convinced of their own correctness that they feel justified in bullying those who (unfortunately and ignorantly) happen not to believe as they do? I know I have. What is it that allows Conservatives to believe that being a mean-spirited, disrespectful bully is an acceptable way to interact with those who think differently? What is it that makes these folks think that denigrating and belittling Liberals is a perfectly acceptable way to act? Or is bad manners and lack of respect the hallmark of the Conservative?
It turns out that there is research that demonstrates rather conclusively the personality types that are more likely than not to become Liberals or Conservatives. It seems that there are actually personality types that are predictably Conservative and Liberal. Of course, Conservatives are going to have a fit with this one, because the research doesn’t exactly paint them in a positive light, but sometimes the truth hurts, eh?
The study from the Journal of Research Into Personality isn’t going to make the UC Berkeley professor who published it any friends on the right. Similar conclusions a few years ago from another academic saw him excoriated on right-wing blogs, and even led to a Congressional investigation into his research funding.
But the new results are worth a look. In the 1960s Jack Block and his wife and fellow professor Jeanne Block (now deceased) began tracking more than 100 nursery school kids as part of a general study of personality. The kids’ personalities were rated at the time by teachers and assistants who had known them for months. There’s no reason to think political bias skewed the ratings ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ the investigators were not looking at political orientation back then. Even if they had been, it’s unlikely that 3- and 4-year-olds would have had much idea about their political leanings.
A few decades later, Block followed up with more surveys, looking again at personality, and this time at politics, too. The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity.
The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests. The girls were still outgoing, but the young men tended to turn a little introspective.
Of course, no one, least of all Block, would claim that Berkeley, CA, is representative of the nation as a whole. Even so, this research represents something that I’ve long suspected on a purely anecdotal level. My sense of people who espouse Liberal or Conservative political beliefs by and large follow Block’s findings- and Block is not the first people to come to the conclusions he did.
He reasons that insecure kids look for the reassurance provided by tradition and authority, and find it in conservative politics. The more confident kids are eager to explore alternatives to the way things are, and find liberal politics more congenial.
In a society that values self-confidence and out-goingness, it’s a mostly flattering picture for liberals. It also runs contrary to the American stereotype of wimpy liberals and strong conservatives.
Of course, if you’re studying the psychology of politics, you shouldn’t be surprised to get a political reaction. Similar work by John T. Jost of Stanford and colleagues in 2003 drew a political backlash. The researchers reviewed 44 years worth of studies into the psychology of conservatism, and concluded that people who are dogmatic, fearful, intolerant of ambiguity and uncertainty, and who crave order and structure are more likely to gravitate to conservatism. Critics branded it the “conservatives are crazy” study and accused the authors of a political bias.
Honestly, I think branding Block’s findings as the “Conservatives are crazy” study is a cheap way to dismiss a reality that some (Conservatives, f’rinstance) might find rather uncomfortable. Dismissing it out of hand, however, does not diminish the fact that Block seems to be onto something. I’ve always wondered, for instance, why the military, with it’s sense of order and discipline, is an environment more conducive to and welcoming of Conservative politics and philosophy. I’ve also wondered what it is about so many Conservatives that make them so dogmatic and willing to massage the available facts to fit their beliefs instead of the reverse.
I would imagine that much more research could and should be done before Block’s findings will be accepted across the ideological spectrum. From where I sit, though, I think he’s hit the nail on the head…and if you doubt the truth in his work, just look around. Look at the Conservative pundits on television and radio and the way they go about “arguing” their points. No, I think Jack Block is dead on…and it makes me glad to call myself a Liberal.
