Psychology Today Rips Conservatives While Praising Liberals

http://newsbusters.org/ ^ | January 19, 2007 | Noel Sheppard

[HitmanLV]

Liberals, on the other hand, are "more likely to see gray areas and reconcile seemingly conflicting information,"

I hear this a lot (often from liberals themselves). I usually sit back and ask them about the gray areas in the abortion issue: if it isn't black and white, they should be able to explore times when abortion is wrong.

They then proceed to flip out and frame the issue in very stark black and white terms. Go figure.

[sionnsar]

It's "Psychology Today", folks. What are you expecting, a serious journal?

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Thank you for the link about study menthodology: http://www.ironshrink.com/articles/070116_political_conservatism_study_methodology.php

The author of that "ironshrink.com" article rips the "study" we're talking about to shreds. This is a "study" of ideology in which Hitler is "conservative" and Stalin is - "conservative!"

This "study" is just self-flattery on the part of the authors.

[scrabblehack]

Well, the letters to the editor of Penthouse and Omni magazine (same publisher too) were both called "Forum." I often imagined one getting mixed up with the other.

"I'm a college student at a large midwestern university, and I was mixing chemicals, when...."

[jonno]

LOL, I have never met an optimistic liberal, nor one who's mind is open. Liberals tend to have lousy relationships with their parents and tend to be dependant on institutions more than actually producing something. Liberals tend to be self-centered and very stingy when it comes to giving their money.

My experience exactly.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Psychology Today - is that still around?.....

[paudio]

Thank you for the link. Very informative!

[Dumb_Ox]

Who has more kids?

The fertility gap alone explains why conservatives have less time for books and "unconventional entertainments."

[SeenTheLight]

Roundup of related links:

http://tinyurl.com/2dysr9

Or use:

http://cinnamonstillwell.blogspot.com/2007/01/blogosphere-roundup-on-psychology.html

[Victoria Delsoul]

Liberals have more books, and their books cover a greater variety of topics. And that's just a start. Multiple studies find that liberals are more optimistic. Conservatives are more likely to be religious. Liberals are more likely to like classical music and jazz, conservatives, country music. Liberals are more likely to enjoy abstract art. Conservative men are more likely than liberal men to prefer conventional forms of entertainment like TV and talk radio. Liberal men like romantic comedies more than conservative men. Liberal women are more likely than conservative women to enjoy books, poetry, writing in a diary, acting, and playing musical instruments.

Liberals are too busy pleasuring themselves on a daily basis and stroking their fragile ego by searching for adulation to have time for serious business. For the most part, liberals are shallow and silly people constantly seeking instant gratification.

This article has all the markings of the product of a silly liberal writer stroking his ego and searching for adulation. Fear is something I see on the extreme left and extreme right. Fortunately, the extreme right doesn't conform the bulk of conservatism. There are many shades of conservatives, but what defines conservatives in general is their moral principles, their appreciation of free markets, their interest in a strong economy, their concern for private property rights, their pursuit of limited government and respect for our national institutions. None of this has much to do with fear. It's our responsible, reality-bound, and matter of fact way of thinking that makes conservatives different than liberals.

[Alberta's Child]

Outstanding post, Victoria.

The most conservative person I know happens to be a Canadian, and he has a lot of the attributes you describe even though he's probably "simple" and "uneducated" (but he's smart as hell) by liberal standards.

[HitmanLV]

Self-praising introspection on the part of liberals is nothing new. They are really something else! The most self described egalitarians who just can't shake a sense of self superiority! Self described open minded people who embrace diversity, yet they tend to cluster in groups where difference of opinion is quite rare (and minimal). The most tolerant people on the block, who can't stand a dissenting point of view.

As Dr Savage has noted, liberalism in its extreme form is not a coherent political philosophy, but rather a mental disorder!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks AC.

Agreed, sometimes the quantity of books we read doesn't make us smarter.

[Victoria Delsoul]

You're right. And I love this quote:

"liberalism in its extreme form is not a coherent political philosophy, but rather a mental disorder!"

[HitmanLV]

It's so true! :-)

[Alberta's Child]

Right.

I wonder what role reading/posting on FreeRepublic has to do with intelligence, though. LOL.

[Victoria Delsoul]

True, and what's the point of reading that much if they can't memorize any of it, LOL.

[Alberta's Child]

LOL.

I gotta go out and grab some supper . . . I'll be back here in a little while. C.U. soon!

[Ban Draoi Marbh Draoi]

This is nothing more than the old "authoritarian personality" canard that the left has been pushing for years. One of their goals is to diagnose conservatives and conservative ideas as mentally ill/pathology.

Just like they did in the old Soviet Union.

"scratch a liberal, find a fascist"

[mitch5501]

"What the heck is erotic logic?"

Something to do with the brain migrating south I think.