Psychologists Are Overwhelmingly Liberal

[101flyboy]

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

Smart people tend to be liberal. Yes. Why is this a surprise?

It’s not a surprise at all.

[I_Love_Me_Vol.I]

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

Your OP seems to be a complaint that the top of academia is dominated by liberals. What is that you think prevents conservatives from being able to become successful at that level or to become psychologists?

Personally, I believe that conservatives have roughly the same potential to become top academics and scientists that liberals do, they just choose not to. I think that they’re simply not that curious, in a holistic sense, about people (other than those in their personal orbit), societies, systems, knowledge for knowledge’s sake, or the universe beyond the “end of their noses” (so to speak).

Instead, they mostly seem to be focused only on things that directly affect their own everyday lives in tangible ways. I wouldn’t say that makes them more selfish (as some others might argue)… it simply means they happen to be more incurious and uninterested, by-and-large, about abstract concepts and the “wider world” in general. No sin there… that’s freedom, ain’t it?

IMO, however, this trait tends to atrophy their critical thinking “muscles” over time–at least in regard to broad, theoretical thinking. Certain applied thinking, OTOH, is often excelled at by conservatives (maximizing corporate revenues comes to mind).

So I don’t really believe that conservatives are sold-short intellectually from birth or anything like that (e.g. that they have smaller brains on average*), it’s just that when it comes to intellectual pursuits, they happen to be Pro-Choice.

*Although that could actually be the case–I don’t know. But if it were, there would only be a correlation–evidence would still need to be produced that showed whether having a small brain causes one to become conservative, or instead, that being conservative causes one to have a small brain. I have no dog in that fight, both theories seem compelling to me.

[Nadir]

Move along, nothing to see here - just the usual suspect large-brained liberals performing mental masturbation, attempting to squeeze every last bit of liberal whimsical go-juice from their skulls.

[Bricker]

@I_Love_Me_Vol.I

Personally, I believe that conservatives have roughly the same potential to become top academics and scientists that liberals do, they just choose not to.

That’s not the only factor. If they do, they are not welcomed, creating a feedback loop which gets worse as time goes on.

Here’s another testimonial:

Haidt notes that his correspondence with conservative students (anonymously) “reminded him of closeted gay students in the 1980s”: He quoted — anonymously — from their e-mails describing how they hid their feelings when colleagues made political small talk and jokes predicated on the assumption that everyone was a liberal. “I consider myself very middle-of-the-road politically: a social liberal but fiscal conservative. Nonetheless, I avoid the topic of politics around work,” one student wrote.

And:

I have used this comparison myself, it is apt, and it doesn’t just apply to students. You hide yourself in plain sight. You make comments that are carefully crafted to allow you to make small talk, and which will allow your colleagues to think you’re in agreement with them, but which nevertheless satisfy your own sense of integrity. You never lie. You just make comments and allow them to draw their own conclusions. A classic example is the way I’ll make comments about politics, saying things like “I don’t trust politicians, period.” My liberal colleagues will nod and agree. We’re all in agreement, they believe. It gets easy after a while. You make comments about Marxist ideology that are really rather neutral, such as how you see similarities between Marx’s views, and something else. You leave it unstated that in fact you think this is appalling, while they nod and smile at the continuing relevance of Marxism in today’s society. Everyone is happy. I don’t feel quite so happy when someone says something about “stupid fucking conservatives” (I’m quoting exact words here), but I just nod, and say “ugh-huh”.

I’ve just been watching the first series of Mad Men, and I’m struck by the gay guy Salvatore Romano, and how similar his behavior is to me, only I’m hiding my politics, not my sexuality. There are also the classic moments, whereby fellow believers in academia carefully try to work out if you are one of “us”. I remember one guy who heard me comment on how some architecture reminded me of something I read in The Fountainhead, which was enough to alert him. Later we went out for a drink. I remember the nervous moment (for both of us) where he finally came out and asked me, “so what are your political / economic beliefs?” I chickened out, tempered, and said, “well, perhaps more to the center than most academics” and countered, “what are yours?” Reassured, he was willing to admit to conservative leanings. Then I was willing to admit it too. Then at last we could talk about our true feelings, with it clearly and openly stated that (of course) none of this was ever, ever, ever, to go beyond our own private conversations. (I also learned to never ever, in future, mention Rand within hearing of any academics, in case I accidently revealed myself again.) In another case, the vital clue was our shared interest in science fiction, and over the weeks there followed careful probing concerning which authors we liked, until we eventually discretely revealed ourselves. Now he lends me books saying “don’t let any of your colleagues see you with this.”

When (if) I get tenure, I toy with the idea of coming out of the closet. I don’t think I will though. Perhaps my job will be more secure, but I have to live and work with these people for years to come. I prefer to work in a friendly environment. I don’t want to be the token conservative, and I don’t want to be the one who speaks at meetings while everyone else rolls their eyes and exchanges meaningful glances.

Needless to say, don’t under any circumstances use my real name if you choose to refer to my email. Thanks!