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Politics and Eye Movement: Liberals Focus Their Attention on 'Gaze Cues' Much Differently...
Science Daily ^ | December 9, 2010

Posted on 12/09/2010 5:30:10 PM PST by EveningStar

Politics and Eye Movement: Liberals Focus Their Attention on 'Gaze Cues' Much Differently Than Conservatives Do

It goes without saying that conservatives and liberals don't see the world in the same way. Now, research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests that is exactly, and quite literally, the case.

In a new study, UNL researchers measured both liberals' and conservatives' reaction to "gaze cues" -- a person's tendency to shift attention in a direction consistent with another person's eye movements, even if it's irrelevant to their current task -- and found big differences between the two groups.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: conservatives; eyemovement; liberals
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1 posted on 12/09/2010 5:30:13 PM PST by EveningStar
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To: EveningStar

Well, it is one way to spot a liberal - shifty eyes.


2 posted on 12/09/2010 5:32:48 PM PST by Graybeard58
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To: EveningStar

True, the visual gives clues to our ideology. I know for me, I just can’t see being a Liberl Progressive marxist Fascist Secularist.


3 posted on 12/09/2010 5:36:54 PM PST by jobim
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To: EveningStar

Makes sense. Liberals are easily manipulated, conservatives are independent thinkers.


4 posted on 12/09/2010 5:37:20 PM PST by KansasGirl
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To: Slings and Arrows

ping


5 posted on 12/09/2010 5:38:47 PM PST by EveningStar (Karl Marx is not one of our Founding Fathers.)
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To: KansasGirl

Conservatives (at a secular level) are stubborn codgers. Not all who “think for themselves” will end up thinking the same thing.


6 posted on 12/09/2010 5:46:56 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
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To: KansasGirl

So where to go with this info? Can those who are easily manipulated be manipulated with the truth? Doesn’t seem to me that liberals listen at all! They must be visual learners because they didn’t LISTEN to the instructions that were given but only followed what they SAW. They vote for what they see as a good speaker, smiles, smiles, smiles, not listening to what is being said. Just my opinion. :)


7 posted on 12/09/2010 5:47:01 PM PST by huldah1776
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To: EveningStar

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always thought that hard lefties have a certain kind of dead eye look to them. Something in the soul, I suppose. The women look hard and worn and the men look weak. I’ve seen the look and found the ideology later many, many times. Weird, but generally true in my experience.


8 posted on 12/09/2010 5:49:54 PM PST by WorkingClassFilth
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To: EveningStar

Must be why they all develop that eyes bugged out looney look. It happens to all of them the more BS they spout over the years.

Some years back Kirsten Powers used to be pretty and normal looking. Over time she has developed that bug eyed look.


9 posted on 12/09/2010 5:56:10 PM PST by dforest
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To: EveningStar

The faces in the study were images on a computer screen. I wonder what the results would be like if they were looking at real people instead of a computer screen.

It could be that liberals can’t tell the difference between real and fake people, and conservatives can. In that case, there would be no difference between liberals and conservatives in doing the same experiment, but with real people looking off in some random direction.

That would suggest a lot about liberals’ grasp on reality.


10 posted on 12/09/2010 5:56:25 PM PST by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: EveningStar

So now we have the scientific evidence: Liberals are sheep.


11 posted on 12/09/2010 5:56:32 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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To: WorkingClassFilth
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always thought that hard lefties have a certain kind of dead eye look to them.

I think I see kind of the same thing. When I see pictures of Dennis Kucinich, for example, I see no soul in the eyes. Not every liberal looks soulless, just some of them.

12 posted on 12/09/2010 5:59:37 PM PST by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: EveningStar
In nature among salmon, it is common to have different survival strategies among sub-groups. For instance, some will leave the system early and some later. It is the wondrous design of nature that this strategic diversity builds adaptive resillience into the species. I do not find the study’s observations a surprise. I think one is a strategy guided by traditional/absolute cultural absolutes, truths, constructs or world views. I perceive The other is a strategy heavily influenced by an urge to go along with the herd is doing at the time.

I voluntarily participate in an Internet board that focuses on survival preparation strategies. A recent poll of the personality types of the participants found around 80% to be of one personality type. The interesting thing about this was that it was the most rare of personality types. Most of these participants are of a conservative bent. So I think personality (whether nature or nurture inspired) may also have an influence on ones political tendencies. The study may have captured one facet of that. It would be interesting to me if a survey could be done to determine whether one or more personality types occurred in conservatives greater than in the population as a whole.

13 posted on 12/09/2010 6:01:58 PM PST by marsh2
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To: huldah1776

This study strikes me as “dumb”, and at best, directed towards matching an observed behavior to any other behavior in humans, such as, which group is most likely to like apple pie.

They could just as easily have tried to show that, the shifting of the eyes or the fixed eyes, might be indications of who is more susceptible to the “wandering eye” syndrome in male humans. Or, they could’ve tried to match the study with who is most likely to develop dry eyes in the later years.

What they had in their minds was a behavior that they needed to show as proof of other tendencies.

Now, aren’t there many of us who are former democrats/liberals? Wouldn’t we be a match for being a shifty liberal or a hard-set in his ways conservative? Or, would we be in the group that shifted one eye while keeping the other one fixed?


14 posted on 12/09/2010 6:11:06 PM PST by adorno
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To: EveningStar

I hope I did not pay for this study.


15 posted on 12/09/2010 6:11:59 PM PST by Brilliant
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To: EveningStar

easliy manipulated and led astray. Yep sounds like liberals.


16 posted on 12/09/2010 6:12:52 PM PST by vpintheak (Obama sez I'm an enemy and I will be punished. My Savior has overcome the world.)
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To: jobim
I just did a cold silly interview today with a young MPBN journalist....I asked...what are u going to ask me?...Jokingly i said...I'm a Democrat...Need to know the questions first so I can Frame them...

20 minutes later he still hadn't looked me in the eye.... (I framed my answers for him...lol)

17 posted on 12/09/2010 6:23:11 PM PST by M-cubed
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To: jobim
I just did a cold silly interview today with a young MPBN journalist....I asked...what are u going to ask me?...Jokingly i said...I'm a Democrat...Need to know the questions first so I can Frame them...

20 minutes later he still hadn't looked me in the eye.... (I framed my answers for him...lol)

18 posted on 12/09/2010 6:23:24 PM PST by M-cubed
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To: EveningStar

I’ve always thought I was born conservative


19 posted on 12/09/2010 6:23:55 PM PST by jocon307
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To: Ramius; marsh2
I think you're both right.
The difference between predator and prey.
Herd animals (prey) are very aware of what others in the herd are doing/looking at, in order to bolt, to keep from being eaten.
Predators on the other hand, being at the top of the food chain, have little to fear. They have the luxury of being able to concentrate more on a single objective, as they have much less chance of being dinner.
It's good to be the king!
20 posted on 12/09/2010 7:21:30 PM PST by IYellAtMyTV (Workday Forecast--Increasing pressure towards afternoon. Rum likely by evening.)
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