Two studies regarding how people form political beliefs.
(1) In the first study, the authors conclude that people manufacture (or interpret) facts to fit their moral beliefs.
<< Liberals and conservatives have well-understood differences in moral sensibilities, but why do they also have differing factual beliefs? In a series of studies examining judgments about controversial political issues like forceful interrogation and stem cell research, we find that people seek coherence between intuitive feelings about a policy's morality and factual beliefs about its costs and benefits, such that the right policy morally becomes the right policy practically as well. Survey results show that the more a policy was deemed inherently immoral, the more it was seen as unlikely to produce beneficial consequences and involve harmful costs. >>
Source:
http://www.spspmeeting.org/?Page=symposium_detail&id=2881
I learned about this from Brendan Nyhan's Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/BrendanNyhan/statuses/163425161683550208
(2) Social conservatives have lower IQs than the rest of us.
<< Hodson was quick to note that the despite the link found between low intelligence and social conservatism, the researchers aren't implying that all liberals are brilliant and all conservatives stupid. The research is a study of averages over large groups, he said.
<< "There are multiple examples of very bright conservatives and not-so-bright liberals, and many examples of very principled conservatives and very intolerant liberals," Hodson said. >>
The author's caution about applying the study conclusions universally is undoubtedly well founded, but without the masses of dumb followers, the few bright people who claim to hold socially conservative values would have no power. So are those few bright social conservatives really socially conservative, or are they just taking advantage of their followers?
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/low-iq-conservative-beliefs-linked-prejudice-180403506.html
My moral beliefs lead me to conclude that the second study is factually correct.
