Fear factor: The science behind America's red/blue divide (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

30 January 2012 Last updated at 09:33 ET Help Americans are as divided as ever between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. Is there a psychological foundation for the red/blue split?

Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are studying liberals' and conservatives' reactions to happy or pleasant photographs and scary or sad ones in an effort to learn more about the cognitive underpinnings of political preference.

The findings? Conservatives tend to concentrate more on images considered to be negative, while liberals' eyes tend to linger on positive images, says political science professor John Hibbing.

The BBC's Matt Danzico visited the university, where the researchers were employing eye-tracking kit on subjects who were also asked to fill out a political questionairre.
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video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16770593




So it's true ... conservatism isn't a choice, they're born that way. :irony:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I have always maintained that conservatism is essentially

a fear-based ideology. This study seems to support that.

[joe1991]

3. I agree, and yet I fear conservatives

[Speck Tater]

2. So basically, trying to talk sense to a conservative is exactly like trying to "cure" a gay person.

Not only is it a waste of time, it's just plain wrong.

The moral of this story is don't bother trying to convince a conservative of anything. There's probably better things you can spend your time on.

The other moral of the story is that political discussion is pointless, and only seems productive when you're discussing politics with people who already agree with you anyway. But that's a waste of time too.

So what am I doing here on DU when I could be doing something that's actually productive?

[joe1991]

4. Never give up

People can change. Let's not paint them as less than human.

I've seen lots of "staunch conservatives" both online and off that have changed views over time. You'll never change their mind in a single discussion, of course, but the truth has a way of sinking in. After eight years of Bush we saw a lot of conservatives turn independent, and a few even to our side.