Study linking preschool personality to political orientation
This study may explain why conservatives, still a minority in the United States, have grown to such a powerful political movement.
According to the study, liberals are independent to a fault, incapable of single mindedness, while conservatives can be unified and single minded on a variety of topics.
I'm not sure that I agree that conservatives are in general "easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited and relatively over-controlled and vulnerable" The study is not really suggesting that assumption either, but it does maintain that in this control group, the subjects do fit that paticular criteria.
Two of my brothers and many of my friends are conservatives; not neo-cons but conservative. If you called any of them "indecisive, fearful, rigid or inhibited", you would likely get more than you bargained for.
What I get from the study is that liberals need to come togehter on more issues. We're too independent in our thinking.
Here's a synposis of the study:
By Yasmin Anwar, Media Relations 23 March 2006
BERKELEY – A study linking early childhood personality to political orientation 20 years later has been generating considerable news media attention. The longitudinal study, conducted by Jack Block, a professor emeritus of psychology at UC Berkeley, and his wife, Jeanne, now deceased, was published online last October in the Journal of Research in Personality. The Toronto Star ran a story on the study on March 19.
Starting in the 1960s, the Blocks tracked more than 100 young children in two Berkeley area nursery schools as part of a general study of cognitive and ego development. The personalities of the 3-and 4-year-olds were evaluated by the nursery school teachers who knew them.
Twenty years later, the Blocks followed up with more surveys. Data collected for 95 of the original participants found that those "relatively conservative at age 23 were described as feeling easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited and relatively over-controlled and vulnerable." Meanwhile, preschool children who turned out to be liberals were characterized as "developing close relationships, self-reliant, energetic, somewhat dominating, relatively under-controlled and resilient."
In the study, Block says it should be taken into account that the "sample" is limited to those born in the late 1960s and reared in Berkeley and Oakland, presenting "an enveloping cultural context appreciably different from much of America." However, he says, "any sample bias carries no implication whatsoever regarding analyses of individual differences conducted within the sample."
As for whether these characteristics mean liberals are superior, Block points out in the study, "Ironically, the sheer variety of changes and improvements suggested by the liberal-minded under-controller may explain the diffuseness, and subsequent ineffectiveness, of liberals in politics where a collective single-mindedness of purpose so often is required."
Read the full study (PDF file).
This study may explain why conservatives, still a minority in the United States, have grown to such a powerful political movement.
According to the study, liberals are independent to a fault, incapable of single mindedness, while conservatives can be unified and single minded on a variety of topics.
I'm not sure that I agree that conservatives are in general "easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited and relatively over-controlled and vulnerable" The study is not really suggesting that assumption either, but it does maintain that in this control group, the subjects do fit that paticular criteria.
Two of my brothers and many of my friends are conservatives; not neo-cons but conservative. If you called any of them "indecisive, fearful, rigid or inhibited", you would likely get more than you bargained for.
What I get from the study is that liberals need to come togehter on more issues. We're too independent in our thinking.
Here's a synposis of the study:
By Yasmin Anwar, Media Relations 23 March 2006
BERKELEY – A study linking early childhood personality to political orientation 20 years later has been generating considerable news media attention. The longitudinal study, conducted by Jack Block, a professor emeritus of psychology at UC Berkeley, and his wife, Jeanne, now deceased, was published online last October in the Journal of Research in Personality. The Toronto Star ran a story on the study on March 19.
Starting in the 1960s, the Blocks tracked more than 100 young children in two Berkeley area nursery schools as part of a general study of cognitive and ego development. The personalities of the 3-and 4-year-olds were evaluated by the nursery school teachers who knew them.
Twenty years later, the Blocks followed up with more surveys. Data collected for 95 of the original participants found that those "relatively conservative at age 23 were described as feeling easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited and relatively over-controlled and vulnerable." Meanwhile, preschool children who turned out to be liberals were characterized as "developing close relationships, self-reliant, energetic, somewhat dominating, relatively under-controlled and resilient."
In the study, Block says it should be taken into account that the "sample" is limited to those born in the late 1960s and reared in Berkeley and Oakland, presenting "an enveloping cultural context appreciably different from much of America." However, he says, "any sample bias carries no implication whatsoever regarding analyses of individual differences conducted within the sample."
As for whether these characteristics mean liberals are superior, Block points out in the study, "Ironically, the sheer variety of changes and improvements suggested by the liberal-minded under-controller may explain the diffuseness, and subsequent ineffectiveness, of liberals in politics where a collective single-mindedness of purpose so often is required."
Read the full study (PDF file).
posted by Van at 8:28 AM
4 Comments:
I just wanted to say first that before anyone is tempted to take a stab at conservatives, you should read the entire study.
The conclusions are drawn on a specific controll group, I doubt that it's the norm for all conservatives.
As I've said, it's not been my personal experience that conservatives are ""indecisive, fearful, rigid or inhibited"
This is the first study of it's kind. It's important to keep the results in context.
Maybe this is why it's said that organizing Democrats is harder than herding cats.
First, as you mentioned, for all the students to be from the same area is a major fault in the study. One done from various urban, sub, and rural areas across America would be very interesting. Of course that is tough because the study takes 20-25 years. In addition I'd be interested in another 20 years if those views of kids just out of college changed in that time period.
"relatively conservative at age 23 were described as feeling easily victimized, easily offended..."
I really want to meet these people. If it involves insulting the military and/or the flag, I might be too easily offended but anything else I can let slide. I'm sitting here thinking about what would offend me. Insulting my family (especially mom)...I just can't think of much. I am trying to figure out how much credit I put in to this. It is very interesting, but fiction can be interesting as well.
Thanks for your comments. I'm skeptical about some of the findings too.
I posted it because the idea that conservatives are more unified on many topics than traditional liberals is worth investigating.
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