# Study: Liberals' and conservatives' brains work differently **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676 "2007-09-10T15:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/1 "2007-09-10T15:35:06Z")
From the [LA Times:](http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-politics10sep10,0,5982337.story?coll=la-home-center) > [@](#): > > 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. > > The results show “there are two cognitive styles – a liberal style and a conservative style,” said UCLA neurologist Dr. Marco Iacoboni, who was not connected to the latest research. > > 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. > > \ > > 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. > > “There is ample data from the history of science showing that social and political liberals indeed do tend to support major revolutions in science,” said Sulloway, who has written about the history of science and has studied behavioral differences between conservatives and liberals. N.B.: This study says nothing about whether the difference results from heredity or environment. Nor about which kind of mind is “better” than the other (value judgments are outside the scope of science). And it’s definitely not an IQ test. Still interesting, though. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/2 "2007-09-10T15:51:24Z")
Well, _ **I** _ have a knee-jerk reaction whenever I see a “W” sticker on a car… ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/3 "2007-09-10T17:46:15Z")
I fail to see any sort of connection between a simple matching game and someone’s entire political worldview. There’s so many possible factors in this study that could affect their performance that I don’t see how they could ever filter it down enough to make a solid connection. It really just sounds like a study to get the researchers in the news to me. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/4 "2007-09-10T17:50:08Z")
Pffft. How hard can it be to tell the head of the 007 division of the British secret service from the Deciderer? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/5 "2007-09-10T17:52:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] I fail to see any sort of connection between a simple matching game and someone’s entire political worldview. [/QUOTE] Apparently there is, at any rate, a demonstrable **correlation.** The nature of the connection is debatable. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/6 "2007-09-10T17:57:36Z")
That’s an awfully thin peg to hang that much speculation on. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/7 "2007-09-10T17:59:18Z")
Reading through the article in full… > [@](#): > > said UCLA neurologist Dr. Marco Iacoboni, who was not connected to the latest research. > [@](#): > > Frank J. Sulloway, a researcher at UC Berkeley’s Institute of Personality and Social Research who was not connected to the study The majority of the people talked to were completely unrelated to the study, and the bit they could get from the lead author was basicallly, “this says nothing about which is better.” Here’s the actual article from Nature Neuroscience, just for kicks: [Browse Articles | Nature Neuroscience](http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn1979.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/8 "2007-09-10T18:06:10Z")
While I don’t doubt the results, their explanation for the cause of the results is fanwanking. You could just as easily say that conservatives are less likely to take silly tests seriously, or any of a hundred different possible causes. Real life fairly quickly demonstrates the reverse. The higher wage someone has, the greater the odds that they’ll be conservative. Now how is one supposed to have social mobility with a lack of adaptability? So which seems a better test for adaptability, real life, or clicking at Ws? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/9 "2007-09-10T18:07:23Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] I fail to see any sort of connection between a simple matching game and someone’s entire political worldview. There’s so many possible factors in this study that could affect their performance that I don’t see how they could ever filter it down enough to make a solid connection. It really just sounds like a study to get the researchers in the news to me. [/QUOTE] Open your mind to new social, scientific or religious ideas. 🙂 Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/10 "2007-09-10T18:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] The higher wage someone has, the greater the odds that they’ll be conservative. Now how is one supposed to have social mobility with a lack of adaptability? [/QUOTE] 1. Cite? 2. High income != social mobility. 3. In some companies/industries/sectors/professions, one can move up by being an “organization man.” ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/11 "2007-09-10T19:13:31Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] 1. High income != social mobility. 2. In some companies/industries/sectors/professions, one can move up by being an “organization man.” [/QUOTE] Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/12 "2007-09-10T19:16:45Z")
I don’t buy it. I know too many people who were conservative and became liberal, and vice-versa (myself included). ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/13 "2007-09-10T19:27:52Z")
Doesn’t the term “progressive” both fit the liberal cognitive style described by the speculators and also tend to more closely align with political liberals than with political conservatives? Of course, many have noted the tendency of university researchers to be politically liberal. Surely the ability to accept new ideas is relatively common among university researchers. Sounds plausible to me (though, of course, not proven, nor did anybody say that). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/14 "2007-09-10T19:52:14Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] 1. Cite? [/quote] [http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/6885.html](http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/6885.html) > [@](#): > > 1. High income != social mobility. So then people who are more adaptable are less able to move up in society? > [@](#): > > 1. In some companies/industries/sectors/professions, one can move up by being an “organization man.” True, of course. And in some, just the opposite. My only point was demonstrating that one could come up with any of a hundred different plausible reasons for the outcome. A second one would be that liberal students are more likely to have taken the test while under the effects of marijuana and thus were paying more attention as an effort to overcompensate. Which is of course wholecloth BS, but still possibly the true answer. There just ain’t no knowing. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/15 "2007-09-10T20:16:52Z")
This goes well with my own research that liberals are not only smarter, but also better-looking and more charming. Preliminary evidence suggests we smell better, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/16 "2007-09-10T20:17:42Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] \ Preliminary evidence suggests we smell better, too. [/QUOTE] :dubious: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/17 "2007-09-10T21:03:36Z")
The research paper is for subscribers only. However, this blog claims to have more info: [http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2007/09/differences\_in\_brain\_activity.php](http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2007/09/differences_in_brain_activity.php) Specifically, the blog claims there were a whopping 43 subjects and 500 trials, and the error rate was a huge 47% for conservatives, in contrast to a tiny 37% for liberals. Of course, the LA Times omitted the actual numbers probably because they were irrelevant to the point being made. Maybe those liberals were just predisposed to consider selecting “Dubya” a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/18 "2007-09-10T22:04:32Z")
Leaving aside the whole issue of methodology, (which is leaving aside an awful lot), I see a problem with the test subjects. Given that people change political views over time, (to say nothing about the way that political sides trade places all the time), I woulkd want to see any comprehensive test administered to a whole range of differently aged individuals. (Better, a series of individuals followed over ther course of many years to correlate their poltics and any changes to perceived brain function. This is not the first time that similar tests have been conducted, frequently with similar results, but if they have all been aimed at college kids, even if they meant anything, (not yet established), I don’t see what serious conclusions could be drawn. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/19 "2007-09-11T01:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] Leaving aside the whole issue of methodology, (which is leaving aside an awful lot), I see a problem with the test subjects. Given that people change political views over time, (to say nothing about the way that political sides trade places all the time), I woulkd want to see any comprehensive test administered to a whole range of differently aged individuals. (Better, a series of individuals followed over ther course of many years to correlate their poltics and any changes to perceived brain function. This is not the first time that similar tests have been conducted, frequently with similar results, but if they have all been aimed at college kids, even if they meant anything, (not yet established), I don’t see what serious conclusions could be drawn. [/QUOTE] I guess they use college kids in a **lot** of psych studies because that’s the easiest way to find volunteers – they’re right outside the door. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676/20 "2007-09-11T01:08:49Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I guess they use college kids in a **lot** of psych studies because that’s the easiest way to find volunteers – they’re right outside the door. [/QUOTE] You’re right, but that’s why a lot of psych studies are kind of bogus (speaking as someone with a degree in psych). **Tomndebb** is right…you absolutely would want to do such a study with people of varying ages and life stages in order to even begin to be convincing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-liberals-and-conservatives-brains-work-differently/418676.md?page=2)