Liberalism v Conservatism — A Psychological & Biological Perspective

The human being is a political animal, and the extent to which this is the case is quite significant. Just look to the eternal battle between the left and right, the democrats and the republicans, the liberals and the conservatives; a perpetual division created by competing political ideologies and philosophies. Although our environment and culture play a role in forming our political orientations, our ideologies have a large basis in our genetic makeup. I will outline the main differences between liberalism and conservatism, their correlations with personality traits, and how the structure of our brain determines who we vote for at the ballot.

IDEOLOGY & POLICY -

Liberals emphasise the importance of government duty in reducing social issues, protecting civil liberties and promoting individual human rights. In terms of policy, liberals favour a market system where the government regulates the economy. They like an even playing field, where everyone is given an equal opportunity. Liberals are pro-environmental policy, arguing that too much industrial growth leads to bad outcomes for the planet. In addition, liberals are usually in opposition to church and state being the same, and they support the removal of all references to religion from public spaces and government platforms. Being advocates for equality and human rights, liberals tend to favour welfare in support of the poor and are okay with higher taxes if it means providing for the less fortunate.

Conservatism is concerned with personal responsibility, free markets, individual liberties and limited government. Conservatives believe that the government’s role is to provide people with the freedom to pursue their own goals. In terms of economics, conservatives emphasise the importance of free, competitive, capitalistic markets where private enterprise can drive an economy forward by creating jobs, growth and a higher standard of living. Unlike their liberal counterparts, who believe the government should achieve this; conservatives believe that free markets are better able to accomplish this job despite the risk of inequality. Although conservatives are pro-environment, they oppose any environmental policy that may detriment the economy. In addition, conservatives favour a healthcare system that is privatised and an immigration policy that is stricter and more rigid. Conservatives oppose long-term welfare to support the poor. They believe there are better ways to deal with inequality by incentivising the unemployed to find work opportunities rather than relying on taxpayer money to survive.

THE POLITICAL PERSONALITY –

According to Xue et al. (2020), Liberals tend to seek novel, aesthetic and complex stimuli. There is a strong correlation between liberalism and the Big 5 personality trait — openness to experience, associated with an appreciation for aesthetics and abstract ideas. People high in openness are flexible and open to change, which perhaps explains the progressive-like qualities in liberal thinking (Xue et al., 2020). Another predictor of liberalism is low levels of conscientiousness at both the lower-level domains of orderliness and industriousness. Liberals score high in agreeableness but only in the lower level trait of compassion, which explains their desire for a more egalitarian social structure (Hirsh et al., 2010). In addition, neuroticism was also a good predictor for liberalism, with high correlation scores for both lower-level traits — withdrawal and volatility (Hirsh et al., 2010).

Conservatism is associated with high levels of conscientiousness, exceptionally high scores in the lower-level trait of conscientiousness — orderliness (Xue et al., 2020). Being high in orderliness, conservatives prefer order, tidiness, routine and the maintenance of the status quo (Carney et al., 2008). This explains why conservatives are resistant to change, unlike their liberal counterparts, who tend to be more flexible and open to change. Jost et al. (2003) found that conservatives have a high need for closure, structure, and intolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. Conservative individuals also tend to be more assertive than their liberal peers. Assertiveness is related to conservative’s ideals of libertarian independence, in which one must assert oneself to obtain dominance and independence. Conservatives favour competition and free markets, and to climb up the dominance hierarchy; one must assert themselves and avoid being inhibited by negative emotion. Conservatives tend to score lower in neuroticism. In terms of agreeableness, conservatives are usually found to score high in the lower-level trait — politeness; however, they score lower in the agreeableness sub-domain of compassion (Hirsh et al., 2010)

THE POLITICAL BRAIN –

Several MRI studies suggest that Liberalism is correlated with greater activity and grey matter in the anterior cingulate cortex (Kanai et al., 2011). The anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) has multiple functions: error detection, conflict monitoring, the evaluation of competing choices, emotion regulation, and cognitive regulation (Matthew et al., 2004). People with a liberal orientation respond well to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty. In addition, liberals are more likely to engage in flexible thinking and are more likely to evaluate alternate options when making decisions. The liberal brain favours change over stability — this is highly characteristic of the Big 5 trait of openness to experience. The anterior cingulate cortex is thought to play a functional role in navigating ambiguous situations in an ever-changing environment. Because the ACC plays a vital role in evaluating competing choices and emotion regulation, it may be an explanation for why liberals are responsive to change and novelty (Amodio et al., 2007).

Conservatism is correlated with increased volumes in the right amygdala (Kanai et al., 2011). The amygdala has multiple functions: formation of memory, learning, and fear conditioning. Conservatives are more disgust sensitive; disgust sensitive people tend to rank high in the sub-domain of conscientiousness — orderliness. When faced with ambiguity and novelty, the conservative brain processes information with a strong emotional response, hence being more resistant to change than their liberal counterparts who are change-seeking in their nature. Due to their intense emotional reaction to ambiguity and novelty, the conservative brain seeks stability, routine and structure above all else. These features are strongly related to the Big 5 personality sub-domain of orderliness (Jost et al., 2003).

While the political landscape seems highly divisive and conflicting, it’s important to note that the features of politics run deep into our brains. While the political policy itself is a social construct, the ideologies from which they stem have a basis in our psychology and biology. Therefore, it is neither irrational nor illogical to state that the human being is a political animal by its very nature. The debates, the conflict, and the divide are all a result of our genetic makeup as individuals and species. We are both united and divided by the genes in which we inherit.

References –

Amodio, D. M., Jost, J. T., Master, S. L., & Yee, C. M. (2007). Neurocognitive correlates of liberalism and conservatism. Nature neuroscience, 10(10), 1246–1247.

Carney, D. R., Jost, J. T., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). The secret lives of liberals and conservatives: Personality profiles, interaction styles, and the things they leave behind. Political Psychology, 29, 807–840. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00668.x

Hirsh, J. B., DeYoung, C. G., Xu, X., & Peterson, J. B. (2010). Compassionate liberals and polite conservatives: Associations of Agreeableness with political ideology and moral values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 655–664. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210366854

Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W., & Sulloway, F. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 339–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.339

Kanai, R., Feilden, T., Firth, C., & Rees, G. (2011). Political orientations are correlated with brain structure in young adults. Current biology : CB, 21(8), 677–680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.03.017

Xu, X, Soto, CJ, Plaks, JE. Beyond Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness: Testing links between lower-level personality traits and American political orientation. J Pers. 2021; 89: 754– 773. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12613