Scientific Proof: Liberals More Rational, More Thoughtful, More Complex and Less Selfish Than Conservatives

(Excerpted from "Stephen Colbert, Scientific Pioneer", by Chris Mooney, published 4/5/12 in the Huffington Post, and suggested by a faithful reader. Thanks!)
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In 2005, Stephen Colbert coined the word "truthiness" -- the problem of people making up their own reality, one just "truthy" enough that they actually believe it. It is knowing something in your gut or your heart, as opposed to in your head. It is the power of emotion trumping calmer, more rational reflection. Colbert elaborated:


"Truthiness is, 'What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true.' It's not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There's not only an emotional quality, but there's a selfish quality."

His point has now been bolstered by research results in psychology and neuroscience on the differences between liberals and conservatives.

Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahnemann explains that the brain processes information using two systems -- the rapid and emotional System 1, and the slower, more reflective System 2. Studies find that System 1 often guides and even trumps System 2. Before we're even consciously aware of it (and some of us never are), System 1 has emotionally driven us to interpret reality in a self-serving manner -- thinking with our guts, or our hearts, rather than our heads.

Recent research suggests that going on your gut responses is more strongly associated with political conservatism than with liberalism. In the just published "drunkenness and politics" study, bar patrons who were more drunk gave more conservative answers on a political questionnaire, whether or not they claimed to be liberal or conservative.

There is a body of research suggesting that conservatism tends to be more associated with quick, instinctive reactions to reality, whereas liberalism is more about making things complex and nuanced. Several studies show that you can make liberals more conservative if you block their ability to, essentially, "complexify" things.

Much recent research associates political conservatism with a stronger sensitivity to the emotion of disgust. It is easy to see a role for disgust sensitivity in conservative views on issues like gay marriage and contraception. But psychologist Jonathan Haidt says conservatives may literally find liberals disgusting, revolting.

A new cognitive neuroscience research study found that liberals showed more activity than conservatives in the part of the brain involved in error detecting, changing habitual response patterns of responding, and overriding gut instincts. Conservatives, meanwhile, were shown to have more activity in the part of the brain involved in detecting fear and threat and driving automatic, self-preserving patterns of responding.
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Buster's nutshell: It's always been kindergarten simple and easy to be a conservative. Being a liberal takes a bit of intelligence.

Below is an actual brain scan of a conservative.