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Open the following article and read 5 of the peer-reviewed studies.  After you read the study, find the corresponding number to the right (use the scroll bar at the bottom to see all 20) and write a reflection about what you read, i.e. something you found interesting, how it relates to a real-world example, etc.  

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Open the following article and read 5 of the peer-reviewed studies.  After you read the study, find the corresponding number to the right (use the scroll bar at the bottom to see all 20) and write a reflection about what you read, i.e. something you found interesting, how it relates to a real-world example, etc.  

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Make sure you add your name to top of the post.

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20 peer-reviewed studies show liberals and conservatives physiologically different

In the 20 peer-reviewed scientific studies summarized below, researchers found that liberals and conservatives have different brain structures, different physiological responses to stimuli, and activate different neural mechanisms when confronted with similar situations. Each entry below cites the source document. The studies are arranged from most recent to oldest. We included all the peer-reviewed studies on this subject that we could find. If you know about others, please contact us with details.

1. Brain responses to a disgusting image are sufficient to make accurate predictions about an individual's political ideology.

2. Neurocognitive responses to conflict differ among the children of liberals, moderates, and conservatives.

"Given recent evidence that political ideology is associated with neural responses to cognitive conflict in adults, we tested the exploratory hypothesis that children's neurocognitive responses to conflict may also differ depending on their parents' ideology.

We assessed relations between parental political ideology and children's neurocognitive responses to conflict...

Because previous research documents heightened liberal-conservative differences in threat-relevant contexts, each trial of the task was preceded by an angry face (threat-relevant) or comparison face (happy or neutral).

An effect of parental ideology on the conflict-related N2 [a measure of electrical activity of the brain surface] emerged in the threat condition, such that the N2 was larger among children of liberals compared with children of moderates and conservatives. These findings suggest that individual differences in neurocognitive responses to conflict, heightened in the context of threat, may reflect a more general pattern of individual differences that, in adults, relates to political ideology."

Tracy A. Dennis, David M. Amodio, and Laura J. O'Toole, "Associations between Parental Ideology and Neural Sensitivity to Cognitive Conflict in Children," Social Neuroscience, Oct. 16, 2014

15. Genetics influence political attitudes during early adulthood and beyond.

"The present research attempts to characterize how the transmission of political orientations develops over the life course... [G]enetic influences on political attitudes are absent prior to young adulthood. During childhood and adolescence, individual differences in political attitudes are accounted for by a variety of environmental influences... However, at the point of early adulthood (in the early 20s), for those who left their parental home, there is evidence of a sizeable genetic influence on political attitudes which remains stable throughout adult life."

Peter K. Hatemi, Carolyn L. Funk, Sarah E. Medland, Hermine M. Maes, Judy L. Silberg, Nicholas G. Martin, and Lindon J. Eaves, "Genetic and Environmental Transmission of Political Attitudes Over a Life Time ," The Journal of Politics, July 21, 2009

16. Conservatives learn better from negative stimuli than from positive stimuli and are more risk avoidant than liberals.

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Differences in Conservative and Liberal Brains

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In the 20 peer-reviewed scientific studies summarized below, researchers found that liberals and conservatives have different brain structures, different physiological responses to stimuli, and activate different neural mechanisms when confronted with similar situations. Each entry below cites the source document. The studies are arranged from most recent to oldest.

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There should not be comments added below as these are the directions.  Thank you!

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There should not be comments added below as these are the directions.  Thank you!

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Maybe that's why the Republicans are calling Biden a Socialist - trying to elicit fear so that they vote for them instead.

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ignorance is bliss

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These differing results to the same stimuli could be why Liberals and Conservatives hav different opinions such as taxation and social economic problems.

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I think it's interesting how people with traditionally conservative values have stronger reactions to sudden noises or images. Is there a common fear of the unknown/foreign which makes this true?

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I find it really interesting that there is a difference in images looked at by conservatives and liberals. It makes me wonder whether or not pleasant pictures to liberals, and unpleasant pictures to conservatives have an effect on political views/ideologies.

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This would makes sense when a common association with conservatives is against gay marriage and sexual ambiguity. There is a higher need for purity, meaning abstienece and hetrosexuality.

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Conservative ideology is based in fearmongering about change

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This reminds me of in the debate when Trump passed on the opportunity to denounce white supremacy. Maybe he did that because he likes seeing the world in flames.

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This is why conservatives react to the current protests in a more negative way

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It is interesting that the physiological responses to certain images can prove peoples way of thinking. Individuals with more muted physiological responses would identify as more liberal.

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It's interesting to see how this group is more affected by it's environment rather than other things. It would not be the first assumption to be made about conservatives.

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It's interesting to see how science can relatively determine one's ideology just by studying their neurocognitive responses. It also connects to today's society and how many children will follow their parent's beliefs opposed to following their own.

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the fact that neurocognitive responses to several different "threat-relevant contexts"  can determine political ideology is fascinating. Science can even prove that children are influenced by their parents.

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conservatives like this because they can do what they want and the government can't say no.

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Interesting that people who want to conserve traditional values often use the same process to evaluate scenarios.

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It's interesting to see what areas of the brain are more active - the amygdala is essentially the area of the brain that controls immediate fight-or-flight responses and relies a lot on instinct, so it's incredibly interesting to see that people who lean conservative have more activity in that area, especially when compared to the other studies done.

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Liberals want to improve what is already there, and what might seem like it can not be imporved at all, whereas conservatives follow the "if it's not broke, don't fix it".

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I find this very interesting, and I wonder if that is why oftentimes a tactic of conservatives is to call liberals dirty or be focus on the fact that they are not "pure"

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This makes a lot of sense as the left brain is much more reliant on feeling and emotions, while the right side is much more on facts and truths. This is quite interesting as these sides of the brain sort of align with the sides of the parties.

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I think it's interesting that liberals are more open minded, this could be why liberals are more likely to support different groups.

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Consersatives are told that everyone is out to get them, so naturally theyre gonna be more defensive.

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It is interesting how parents can affect their kids response to conflict just because of how their political ideology has affected their kids.

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Maybe this is why there is stigmas behind liberals and conservatives. Some say liberals are too risky/open minded, while others say conservatives are too closed minded/stubborn.

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Conservatives value purity and cleanliness, as well as tradition. I think this often gives members of this group a closed mind, usually with new ideas. I just wonder why values like these are so different from a president who is so clearly not pure.

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Often the idea of Republicans being against gay marriage and trans rights is heavily portrayed in the media and I believe the article tries to explain this by saying that conservatives are more motivates to preserve purity. And by being different (ie. LGBTQ+) this is seen as ruining their ideal of what is pure. This also can be why we see many conservatives being against abortion as they see the women as being killing something that would be pure (ie.baby) despite the circumstances of the women

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This makes me think of the debate about being proactive versus reactive.

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It is interesting that the conservatives were more biased in the choices they made than the liberals who selected more targets.

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Conservatives don't care about facts, they care about stuff that fits their narrative. Logical debate and discussion doesn't matter to them.

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this makes sense because conservatives are not always for gay marriage 

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this makes sense because conservatives are not always for gay marriage 

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charlie Laurent

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Liberals care more about human rights and such, so in theory they would be more empathetic. This would align with this study because if someone begins looking at something they would also wonder and be curious as to what that other person is looking at.

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People's opinions are very rigid and difficult to change even when presented with facts.

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I don't know how this is possible, but could it be related to how liberals want to fix every problem, because when the sleep, the problem resurfaces?

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How much does biology affect how we think?

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A lot of news these days focuses a lot on disturbing or negative imagery, especially cable and local news (or Fox News). I feel like that, considering this study, the people who control what gets shown on the news are essentially pandering to certain people.

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I wonder how this was found out. This could relate to how conservatives react strongly to nasty images and liberals are more so muted.

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Maybe this is why some believe that during the debate Biden's eye contact was a "power move".

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I think this links to the idea that liberals are more open-minded, and considering other reactions for scenarios.

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When one side cares more about people rather than themselves, this actually makes sense. If you care about others it means your actively thinking more and being more considerate and if not, well you might get a few more hours of sleep.

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this makes sense because conservatives are more focused on making sure they have their freedom

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This is super interesting because it further defines the line between liberals and conservatives. Personally, I think that much of Trump's agenda follows an unpleasant path and I think that's interesting to compare to this article and how your ideological orientation relates to what appeals to you.

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I found it interesting that conservatives expressed 'greater rigidity' to negative stimuli because the conservative thought process often relies of social rigidness.

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The republican candidate uses short easy to follow statements, this might be to appeal to conservatives. This article suggests that conservatives use low effort thinking.

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it's interesting to see that ideology may influence one's biology. liberals/conservatives use different cognitive processes when assessing a high risk situation.

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It is interesting that conservatives tend to react more to negative stimuli because it helps explain why they want things to stay the same and not experiment with new risky ideas

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I think that it's interesting that liberals are more likely to act differently, because conservative people are known to be resistant to change.

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I think that it is interesting how we can see this study reflected in debates, and how the different parties approach one another.

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This relates to the tactics used in debates and elections, because liberals are often trying to prove their point, while conservatives are trying to prove why liberals are wrong

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this is probably why during the debate last night Trump kept repeating the fact that Biden has done nothing in x years (it would stick with his followers).

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This reasoning is probably why quite a few conservative policies don't hold up to intense scrutiny or questioning. During the Democratic primary debates, a lot of people jumped onto the "I have a plan" bandwagon, largely for the first time, while our Republican-led Executive branch did not feel the need to explain anything or answer any questions about what he was doing during the same time period.

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I find it interesting how in a way both conservative and liberals aim for positive affects but in different approaches

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I think liberals tend to be more understanding than conservatives, because liberals are more supportive of social issues such as immigration, gay marriage, and racial equality etc. so that they are influenced by other people.

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I think that this is shown in how conservatives will sometimes get very defensive or have a strong reaction to something said against them as shown in last night debates.

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I find it interesting that liberals are more willing to change and conservatives seem to avoud change unless its absolutely necessary.

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This relates to the debate yesterday as I noticed lot of what trump claimed was vague and lacked hard evidence.

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It is interesting that liberals can be open-minded and have more open-ended thoughts. This is a possibility why conservatives refuse to do certain things. Liberals can support all people from all different socioeconomic statuses, races, and living situation.

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this can be tied into last night's debate, as Trump who tried to captivate a conservative base lacked deliberate reasoning, while biden structured his responses with evidence (when he could speak, that is).

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I wonder why this is, and maybe this is the reason conservatives are more likely to be islamaphobic for example after 9/11

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This is possibly why the stereotype of Liberals is that they are worried about climate change, govt. control of economy, COVID, mask mandates etc. while the stereotype for conservatives is that they don't really worry about these issues. Trump often uses the word "hoax" while describing them.

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To me this makes sense since conservative ideas always seem like they're spur of the moment, short term and what's easiest for a few people, but effects others greatly

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liberals are more open minded and want change while conservatives are happy with the way things are now

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This kind of relates to the nature vs nuture debate and how much your parents' politics have an effect on you.

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I think this is really interesting, and you can see it in different views. Liberals seem to think more about others and their rights, while conservatives think about how we can keep tradition and stay pure

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I find it interesting how different things can influence a child's political standpoint but as a young adult it could be based more on genetics.

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I think this study relates to some of the others, like the one where it was show that liberals are trying to work towards a positive future, while conservatices are trying to prevent negative things.

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Traditionally, liberals have been the party of change, and uncertainty is part of change in any and every capacity. Conservatives largely fear change, and that displays in their ideology and also in their brain.

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if by "purity and cleanliness" they mean like the days in The Crucible where going against the church was a sin then SURE. If gay marriage and abortion is considered to be dirty, then yes, conservatives like to preserve cleanliness

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This relates to the debate as Trump attacked Biden's point o view while Biden tried to prove why his was right.

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This article connects higher and lower sensitivity to sudden noises and certain images to individual political attitudes. I am not surprised that people who leaned towards more liberal ideologies had a lower sensitivity whereas their more conservative counterpart had the opposite reaction.

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This article suggests that conservatives focus more on negative aspects more than  liberals. This could be why the republican candidate focuses on law and order, to appeal to conservatives.

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I find it fascinating that genes dont tend to influence you political ideology as a kid however can when you become an adult. It might have to do with the maturing processes that occur during puberty.

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I'm not completely sure if this is what the article was saying, but it seems that conservatives complicate each social interaction, or it activates different parts of the brain.

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I believe that preservation of "purity" should not be tied in with government/politics. To ne, each American should be free to live their lives, no matter what one may deem un-pure. What happened to separation of church/religion and state?

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I think it is interesting because it demonstrates the different reactions that a liberal in power or conservative in power could have to a threat or sudden conflict.

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It's interesting that liberals are more subject to change whereas conservatives are not. This could be compared to the Covid-19 situation. Trump calls Biden a fool for listening to the CDC and wearing a mask to protect and change the dynamic of the mortality and infection rate of the Covid-19 virus. Biden, a liberal is more subject to change where Trump is not.

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We saw examples of this in the debates last night, where Biden looked directly at the camera and was addressing the population as a whole and Trump was looking to his opponent instead of the people.

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I found this article a little harder to understand, but I believe that it's saying as a conservative their beliefs may require more complex justifications and judgement. As for a democrat it's easy to say everyone deserves Universal Health Care or talk about basic rights, but Republicans consider themselves and the fairness of taking certain actions and consider the amount of money that'd go into certain things

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maybe this would make sense because liberals care more about the general public and therefor have more on their mind concerning the wellfare of others, while conservatives are too self-invested to let someone elses problems ruin their slumber

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Conservatives focus on fear and negativity, while liberals are motivated to do more to advance society.

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Maybe this is why some republicans are less subjective to change when it relates to policies.

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This could be why Biden showed more facial expression to show disapproval during the debate.

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Since both presidential candidates grew up in different environments, it potentially caused them have different views on several issues.