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Confirmed: Conservatives understand liberal positions better than liberals understand...
Hot Air ^ | April 13, 2012 | Tina Korbe

Posted on 08/17/2012 12:01:25 PM PDT by Yardstick

At The American, AEI resident scholar Andrew Biggs highlights an interesting study that confirms what most conservatives probably already know to be true of themselves: We understand why our liberal friends think what they think more than they understand why we think what we think.

[University of Virginia professor Jonathan] Haidt’s research asks individuals to answer questionnaires regarding their core moral beliefs—what sorts of values they consider sacred, which they would compromise on, and how much it would take to get them to make those compromises. By themselves, these exercises are interesting. (Try them online and see where you come out.)

But Haidt’s research went one step further, asking self-indentified conservatives to answer those questionnaires as if they were liberals and for liberals to do the opposite. What Haidt found is that conservatives understand liberals’ moral values better than liberals understand where conservatives are coming from. Worse yet, liberals don’t know what they don’t know; they don’t understand how limited their knowledge of conservative values is. If anyone is close-minded here it’s not conservatives.

Haidt has one theory to explain his results, while Biggs has another. Haidt says conservatives speak a broader and more encompassing language of six moral values, while liberals focus on a narrow subset of those values. Biggs says conservatives understand liberal positions because they’re inundated with them — by the media, by academia, even to a certain extent by the culture.

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: jonathanhaidt
Older but interesting.

Full title is "Confirmed: Conservatives understand liberal positions better than liberals understand conservative positions"

1 posted on 08/17/2012 12:01:30 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Yardstick

I always tell my liberal friends that I can argue their positions better than they can. They don’t get it because they are more concerned with what Rachel Madcow says then what their core values are.


2 posted on 08/17/2012 12:06:03 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (ABO 2012)
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To: Yardstick

Biggs says conservatives understand liberal positions because they’re inundated with them — by the media, by academia, even to a certain extent by the culture.


The converse is also true. Liberals don’t understand Conservative positions because they rarely - if ever - hear them espoused.


3 posted on 08/17/2012 12:06:16 PM PDT by Personal Responsibility (Behind enemy lines in the city where it's illegal to buy a Big Gulp)
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To: Yardstick

Liberals lie, even to them selves.


4 posted on 08/17/2012 12:08:24 PM PDT by MCF
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To: Yardstick

Not only that, many conservatives are former liberals. I was a liberal until I was 30 and Ronaldus Maximus changed my life.

But very few liberals are former conservatives. That wouldn’t be evolution but devolution.


5 posted on 08/17/2012 12:24:24 PM PDT by MNnice
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To: Yardstick

In my experience, we also understand liberal positions better than liberals do.


6 posted on 08/17/2012 1:48:02 PM PDT by Daveinyork
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To: Yardstick
BS. I have NO IDEA why libs think what they think. It totally boggles my mind. None of their positions make any sense to me. Everything they believe is so freakin' alien to me that it is impossible to reconcile any of it with rational thought. Nearly half the population of this country is literally insane from my point of view.

One caveat, however. I guess I can understand one thing. People like free stuff. I suppose people could be voting for more freebies if they don't like to work for a living.

7 posted on 08/17/2012 2:06:30 PM PDT by America_Right (Remember, Republicans have a lot more in common with Democrats than they do with Tea Partiers.)
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To: MCF

That is so true, their circle ideas is so limited they think everyone thinks like they do, and when they do hear something contrary to their ideas they are puzzled


8 posted on 08/17/2012 2:48:37 PM PDT by blitz128
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To: blitz128

You are correct .. the liberals live in a bubble .. and that’s why they could say, “I can’t believe Nixon won the election .. I don’t know anybody who voted for him”.


9 posted on 08/17/2012 2:55:45 PM PDT by CyberAnt ("America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth".)
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To: America_Right
BS. I have NO IDEA why libs think what they think. It totally boggles my mind. None of their positions make any sense to me.

I will never claim to be able to fathom WHY they believe what they do. That, though, doesn't keep me from knowing WHAT they claim to believe.

Yes, it really is mind-boggling and, of course, they don't make any sense, but you and I both already knew that.

10 posted on 08/17/2012 3:05:15 PM PDT by Bob
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To: Bob; All

It’s called idealogy.

All the libs believe the same - collectivism. That’s why they always support each other and cover for each other.

Conservatives, on the other hand, believe in the individual, and if you mess up .. we’re gonna tell ya .. but then at times we’re willing to give people a hand up when they decide to change their ways.


11 posted on 08/17/2012 3:12:46 PM PDT by CyberAnt ("America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth".)
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