Political Science Ph.D wows at HCC Southwest
Feb 20, 2014
Whether you lean left or right in your politics may be as predetermined as whether you are left- or right-handed, says Rice Political Science Professor John. R. Alford, Ph.D. Students of Psi Kappa—the Psychology Club at HCC Southwest—recently planned, prepared and hosted a special event featuring Alford at the Stafford Learning Hub.
Alford's groundbreaking--and controversial--findings have been released in a book, Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives and the Biology of Political Differences, co-written by University of Nebraska professors John Hibbing and Kevin Smith. They argue that the 'universal rift" between conservatives and liberals endures because of diverse psychological, physiological and genetic traits--not societal or familial influences.
"It's our biology and not always careful consideration of facts, that predisposes us to see and understand the world in different ways," says Alford, who studied areas of the brain to see how we react to certain stimuli.
In simple terms, our sense of smell, the oldest sense, triggers different reactions among different people, and it represents our feelings of purity/disgust (conservative straits) or flip flopping (an accusation often made of liberals). When sniffing such things as urine, sweat and ammonia, some people don't smell anything and may be more on the political fence. More interestingly, those who have a positive reaction, thinking the smell is of vanilla or incense, are more authoritarian, living by strict rules, punishing rule breakers, viewing their leaders as bold, and becoming intolerant of dissent--all conservative traits.
Alford's group also used animals in a study of fear, flashing such images as bunnies vs. snakes in front of a test group to test their impulse reaction.
"A hawk is very threatened by the appearance of a snake, but relaxes only a little when he sees a bunny," says Alford, comparing that reaction to conservative's view of a defense policy. He says they are more on guard and less trusting and so support a strong defense.
"The dove, the liberal, does not react to positive or negative images," says Alford. "They just kind of roll with the flow and say, "Well, it might be bad; it might not.'"
An image of a mouthful of worms showed conservatives are more disgusted by them, which Alford likens to a disgust of gay marriage. Liberals, not surprisingly, were less disgusted by the images and, therefore, by gay marriages. However, Alford revealed that sociology and environment can play a role in this ideology, pointing out that those most disgusted by gay marriage are African-Americans, with Hispanics following close behind.
"I think we can inherit ideology of all types, but that is not all there is to it. Biology plays a part," he says, admitting during a Q&A that liberals often become more conservative as they grow older.
"Of course, liberals will argue that it's the onset of dementia, and conservatives say they are finally growing up," laughs Alford. "But if you'll give me 10% of an accepted physiological role, then I have done my job."