Posted on 06/30/2014 1:50:57 PM PDT by nickcarraway
U.S. President George W. Bush addresses reporters during a press conference in the briefing room at the White House July 14, 2008 in Washington, DC. Bush addressed oil prices and energy policy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economy, among other topics.
Conservatives, many people will tell you, like authority. They like the idea of someone telling them what to do, lest society break down into chaos. Liberals, on the other hand, are a bit more skeptical of authority and quick to challenge it. But a new paper in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that this common belief is wrong — that liberals and conservatives have the same views on authority, but differ only when it comes to what kinds of authority they respect.
The conservatives-like-authority thing isn’t just folk wisdom; it’s also a well-known finding among those who study political differences. But the authors of this new paper, from the University of Manitoba, argue that this is the result of confusion and poorly designed past study questions: The word “authority” has cognitive baggage, so when we hear it we tend to think of authorities such as soldiers or police officers that are perceived as upholding conservative values. It’s no wonder, then, that if you ask people whether they think “authorities” should be heeded, that you’ll tend to find conservatives are more in favor than liberals.
Control for this, as the researchers did by getting a bit more careful and specific in their questioning of study participants (What happens when the authority figure in question is an environmentalist? A civil rights leader?), and those differences disappear:
The findings suggest that obedience itself is not ideologically divisive. Counter to the intuition that obedience itself is a mode of conduct that conservatives preferentially champion, these data suggest that liberals and conservatives have the same sentiments about obedience. Conservatives only favor obedience when they perceive the authority to be a conservative. Liberals also favor obedience when the authority shares their ideology.
It's an early study in a new avenue for this sort of research, but it certainly helps explain what has happened since George W. Bush left office. When Obama is an authority and Glenn Beck a rabble-rouser, conservatives suddenly get a lot less concerned about the dangers of dissent.
How odd....I’ve always thought of it as liberals who like authority.
Name one.
“Conservatives, many people will tell you, like authority. They like the idea of someone telling them what to do, lest society break down into chaos. Liberals, on the other hand, are a bit more skeptical of authority and quick to challenge it.”
Actually, it is the exact opposite.
Conservatives do believe in rule of law and order and rationality, logic, consistency etc...
But that is not the same as authority.
New York Magazine I have noticed is a direct outlet for Obama administration propaganda.
Liberals only like authority if they’re the ones in authority
Especially if it causes harm to someone they don't approve of.
What was Nancy Pelosi’s quote about how terrible it was to be against the government.
bump
Leftists do blindly follow their “leaders”
I believe that “authorities” need to be heeded as long as they operate within the rather strict limitations placed upon them by the United States Constitution.
Once they start operating outside those parameters they can and should be told to go fornicate themselves.
Conservatives believe in individual sovereignty and liberty and limited government.
So-called liberals (actually totalitarian leftists) believe in unlimited power of centralized government authority to regulate every aspect of individual lives (except who you sleep with and whether you have an abortion). Of course, that could change, if the angels who are granted the government power to regulate society should happen to change their minds about who you sleep with and whether you have an abortion.
Once the unlimited power of government that “liberals” advocate is unleashed upon the people, the only certain outcome is that the few in power will impose their whims and will upon the people.
Conservatives, many people will tell you, like authority. They like the idea of someone telling them what to do, lest society break down into chaos.
Conservatives want a few things: 1) consent of the governed, that is, authority with limits, and 2) consistent application of authority, meaning equally applied to all (don't give one party a pass). Apply the rules with consistency and society will not break down in chaos.
Liberals, on the other hand, are a bit more skeptical of authority and quick to challenge it.
Except when Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, or Hillary Clinton are involved.
-PJ
I kinda like the authority of the U s Constitution to limit leftist JBTs.
Liberal Progressive Leftists are herd animals incapable of independent judgment. There are no greater enforcers of conformity in America. That’s what PC is.
The author is confused.
B.S.
Global Warming is the Perfect Example
Liberal argument for: Consensus, 97% of scientist agree. In other words —> appealing to authority
Conservative argument against: Pause in temps over 17 years, record sea ice, failed computer models & predictions: In other words —> Relying on facts to reject authority
At least Bush gave press conferences, Bammy gives oratories when he actually condescends to address the people he supposedly works for.
And liberals a lot less concerned about the police state.
It is liberals who love authority. They want a government big enough and powerful enough to control every aspect of your life. And they want to be in charge of it.
Conservatives like social order established according to proven moral values, reward for hard work and playing by the rules. If authority establishes rules that work against sound moral order, which is what liberals routinely do, then we rebel against that authority.
Proven moral values as perceived by a conservative impute power to the individual operating in self-interest which,in proper context, recognizes that consideration of the well-being of our fellow man IS part of that self-interest. Hence, the stronger individuals become, the stronger society becomes.
Liberals seek to impute power to the state and individual freedom and discretion has to be severely limited to vest that power in the state.
To characterize conservatives to be generally compliant or anti-authority is an inaccurate, over-simplified generalization.
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