Why Can't We Just Get Along?: A Closer Look at Neural Differences in Liberals and Conservatives

 

The Political Brain. [Credit: AP/CBS]

         There is a good reason that politics have become a traditional taboo topic at the dinner table; one would be hard-pressed, after all, to find many subjects with the capacity to evoke equally impassioned arguments. Who among us has not left a politically-charged conversation exasperated by the other person’s apparent failure to understand basic logic? Why do we feel that, when it comes to certain issues, we simply cannot see eye-to-eye with those closest to us? Armed with ever-improving neuroscientific technology, researchers are beginning to investigate this puzzling question through the measurement of the implicit, automatic physiological responses of their participants to politically-related stimuli.

       Dane Wendell, a doctoral candidate at Loyola University Chicago, is currently exploring interpersonal differences in biological responses to aversive stimuli. In one prior study, participants were shown a series of pleasant or neutral images, which were periodically punctuated by randomly placed “disgusting” images (e.g. a picture of a man eating worms). While the participants viewed the images, researchers monitored their skin conductance, which measures sweat production in response to a stimulus. The results found that participants who identified as strongly conservative had higher rates of skin conductance in response to these aversive stimuli than did their left-leaning counterparts, implying that conservatives tend to have a higher disgust response than liberals.

 

The Wiring of the Brain. [Credit: The Situationist]

        A related article in Science Daily details a new study that seems to support this growing line of evidence. Dr. Darren Schreiber, a neuropolitics professor at the University of Exeter, used functional imaging to observe neural differences in risk-taking behavior in 82 participants. While conservatives and liberals did not differ in their outward risk-taking behavior, key differences were found in the participants’ brain activity while engaging in the task. Self-identified liberals tended to have significantly higher activity in their left insula, a region typically associated with social and self-awareness, while conservatives had higher activity in their right amygdala, which is involved in the fight-or-flight system. These results suggest that not only is there is a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives in their cognitive processes, but that conservatives may have a higher sensitivity to stimuli they perceive as threatening. While the researchers are quick to point out that these findings do not imply superiority in either political party, it does suggest that there is a biological cause for differences in viewpoint.

Image by: Darren Schreiber

       These studies are particularly of note as they question a long-standing model of political behavior that may over-emphasize the role of parental political socialization on children's voting preferences. By looking at participant brain activity, researchers were able to predict voter preference with 82.9% accuracy, a significant improvement from the parental model’s 70% predictive accuracy. Such research can allow for improved understanding of voter behavior and may play a key role in the continued development of targeted political campaigns.

       Perhaps most importantly, understanding that every person’s brain is wired differently may reduce beliefs that the other party is uninformed or naïve, which in turn fosters tolerance in an increasingly polarized political climate. As it is by no means uncommon for people, especially those who hold strong political beliefs, to get frustrated with others’ political beliefs when they do not understand the rationale behind them, even the simple recognition that every individual experiences the world differently may give people pause before they initiate a screaming match (again) with Auntie Sue about who ought to win the next presidential election.

Reference:

University of Exeter (2013, February 13). Red brain, blue brain: Republicans and Democrats process risk differently, research finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 8, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/02/130213173131.htm