Are liberals and conservatives born, not made?

by David Safier
All socio-psychological studies should be taken with shakers full of salt. They're proven, argued over and disproven over and over again. That being said, here's another study that tries to get at basic traits that make one person a liberal and another a conservative.

In the past, I've posted about similar studies. They've found that conservatives frighten more easily than liberals, based on their startle reflexes (Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell's chief of staff when Powell was Secretary of State, says Cheney is a very, very fearful individual). Also that conservatives are more comfortable with things divided into clear categories while liberals are more comfortable with shades of gray. And conservatives tend to have neater desks and more cleaning supplies at hand than liberals.

All vast generalizations, of course, all open to question. Nevertheless . . .

Nicholas Kristof has a column that adds to the list of differences. He cites studies that say conservatives are stronger on upholding authority, and they are more easily disgusted than liberals.

When the question is, "Would you be willing to slap your father in the face, with his permission, as part of a comedy skit?" liberals tend to say, Sure, while conservatives say, No, not even with permission, not even in jest.

When the question is, "Does it disgust you to touch a faucet in a public restroom or accidentally sip from an acquaintance's drink?" conservatives are more likely than liberals to say, Yes, that's disgusting.

If these are true, they may explain a few things. If you combine conservatives' fearfulness with their respect for authority, you can understand why the Republican Party is the "daddy party," with forceful leaders who play to people's fears and promise to protect them from the ever present threats posed by powerful enemies.

Conservatives' heightened disgust factor could help explain their unwillingness to tolerate people and behaviors that seem strange to them, especially if the strange people and behaviors can be construed as deviant. The somewhat playful Republican Us/Them dichotomy that makes fun of arugula eating, latte drinking, chablis drinking liberals makes sense in that context. It could explain the loathing many conservatives show toward illegal immigrants. It might even mean that homophobia among conservatives is amplified because the thought of different sexual practices triggers feelings of physical disgust, which would make it harder to be tolerant or accepting.

Take these as weekend musings, not as declarations of strongly held beliefs on my part. Like a good liberal, I see the world in shades of gray, so I don't think there are strict dichotomies between people who adhere to the two ideologies,any more than there are clear separations between the feelings and attitudes of men and women. Nevertheless, it's something to mull over.