Many studies confirm American adults and teens who identify as politically liberal have long reported lower levels of happiness and psychological well-being than conservatives.
Correlations between brain function/anatomy and specific political party are consistent across multiple studies, of varying design and methodology, over years of research.
Mental-health experts suspect this trend is at least partly explained by liberals’ tendency to spend more time worrying about stress-inducing topics like racial injustice, income inequality, gun violence, and climate change.
Liberals associate with other liberals and speak emotionally. “Trump is awful”, “Trump is scary”, Kamala is wonderful”, “Republicans make me angry”, “How great it would be if Trump went to jail”, etc– all EMOTIONAL terms.
Like any muscle that isn’t used, the brain is no exception. After years of talking and thinking in emotional terms, many liberals literally lose some of their ability to think rationally and logically.
The logical mind and the emotional mind are in distinctly different parts of the brain.
● Emotions lie in the primitive part of the brain, the cerebellum, which also controls voluntary movement (flight or fight) for survival.
● Logical/rational/analytical thinking occurs in the cerebrum, the later-evolved part of the brain.
When parts of the brain are unused, they lose function and “re-wire” to enhance more used functions.
A growing number of liberals cannot critically think, which is why they are so easily led. And, their media exploits this by putting everything in emotional terms, whether television, radio, or print.
One of our readers (a proclaimed libertarian) shared her recent conversation with someone more liberal (L=Liberal, R=Rational):
L: I hate Trump
R: Why?
L: He’s a liar.
R: Oh? What does he lie about?
L: Everything!
R: Can you give me an example?
L: I just hate him.
R: But, he secured the border, lowered taxes, crime, inflation, and unemployment.
He brought back overseas jobs and promoted world peace.
L: I just hate him.
The liberal appeared to the libertarian to have “emotions and devoid of rational thinking. Instead of attempting a rational discussion with a liberal, we would resonate better with them if we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be scary if someone as incompetent as Kamala were to control the country? Imagine her response to immigrant gangs beating up old people and robbing them, or if North Korea threatened a nuclear war.”
Scientific Research
In 2023, a team of Columbia epidemiologists found evidence that the established adult pattern holds for American teenagers. The researchers analyzed surveys collected from more than eighty-six thousand twelfth graders over a thirteen-year period and discovered that while rates of depression have been increasing most sharply among progressive students, it was especially among liberal girls from low-income families.
The authors included Columbia University professors Katherine M. Keyes, Seth J. Prins, and Lisa M. Bates, along with graduate student and lead author Catherine Gimbrone.
Even Scientific American wrote, “Partisanship does not just affect our vote; it influences our memory, reasoning and even our perception of truth.”
“The more strongly we identify with a (political) party, the more likely we are to double down on our support for it. That tendency is exacerbated by rampant political misinformation and, too often, identity wins out over accuracy.”
In 2022, Psychology Today chimed in:
“Generally, the strongest predictor of someone’s political leanings is considered to be the ideology of their parents. Now researchers know that brain scan analysis of functional connectivity may be equally accurate.”
General Knowledge
General knowledge from the studies:
● Too much emotion gets in the way of logical thinking, and disrupts cognitive processing.
● It isn’t so much the specific issue that defines the thinking style, it’s the preference for either stability or change. Depending on the current events, this can mean very different things.
● Conservatives like stability meaning more predictability, which offers more expected outcomes, and less of a trigger for anxiety.
● Liberals tend toward unpredictability. They don’t mind change as much and often prefer it. They seek it out and are more susceptible to television commercials, Hollywood indoctrination and social engineering.
● More religious people identify as conservatives, and more skeptics, agnostics, and atheists that are liberal.
● Liberals tend to be more emotionally fooled by propaganda (“Trust the Science,” “Without evidence”).
● Conservatives tend to verify with facts. They seek real evidence, not what is presented by a distrustful media or politician.
(Note that since 2020, even moderate liberals have become more distrustful of mainstream media as evidenced by their plummeting ratings and demographics).
Conservative and liberal behavior each has advantages for individuals and society. Some situations profit more from conservatism and others from liberalism.
Strong political ideology can divide societies and nations, especially when enemy outside influences interfere.
The Bible
The bottom line for me is how conservatism and liberalism deals with the Bible.
● An individual who is conservative favors traditional views and values and tends to oppose change. As it relates to Bible study, this means a strict adherence to the word of God and opposing changes to the gospel.
● A conservative approach seeks to find the one way that God intended us to receive His word.
● One who is liberal does not view themselves as being limited to established or traditional attitudes or views.
● Regarding Bible interpretation, a liberal approach favors a loose or approximate view of the Scriptures rather than a strict, literal interpretation.
● Basically, one with a liberal approach to the Bible believes there are a number of ways in which one may acceptably interpret God’s word.
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IN GOD WE TRUST
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Clever Journeys 
I like this whole report, but that T. Roosevelt quote is the best. ~Ed.
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A conservative reading this post would likely see themselves and agree with it while chuckling. If a liberal read this post, they’d likely consider it misinformation and be offended. Of course, there’s always exceptions on both sides. 🙂
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I think the quote from Theodore Roosevelt sums it up, too. Succinctly. And so do the very emotional photos of all the devastated Liberals crying because they’ve believed a pack of lies; meanwhile the one who told them call them all “useful idiots.”
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Useful. That they are…but for what?
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Fighting without a rational thought for anything they are told to, I guess, They sure do get mad if you disagree with them; they just yell or repeat talking points they heard on MSM. Robotic. Robots are useful, right? Just pre-program them and away they go. Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing. Rush kept saying that. They can’t think.
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I miss Rush.
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[…] Read the Rest […]
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Because deep in their hearts they know how they think is wrong but won’t even admit it to even themselves. Like when Nancy Pelosi said she “doesn’t know who Jesse Watters is.” Of course she does, but has to lie to diminish his show.
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Good point!
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