Berkeley Psychologists Try to Understand Conservatives

The Angry Clam pointed out this exercise in self-congratulation about an article purporting to show that some of the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism include:

• Fear and aggression
• Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Need for cognitive closure
• Terror management

Okay. That means the Green Party (dogmatism) is right-wing and Democratic Underground (fear and avoidance) is right-wing and the entire pro-“choice” movement (endorsement of inequality) is right-wing…

On a second thought, I should try to take them seriously. After reading the article, it looks like they “proved” that leftists are more open to new ideas by showing that leftists are more open to their own ideas. This is buttressed by asking respondents if they're open-minded. (Leftists are, of course, more likely to assess themselves as open-minded.)