Fraters Libertas

More Than A Feeling

While reading Dennis Prager’s piece today on Townhall.com, I was reminded of the often quoted Berkeley study on the psychological roots of conservatism (referred to most recently on this page by Saint Paul and previously by yours truly). The two pieces are interesting by comparison.

Prager makes the assertion that there are two main reasons people hold liberal positions, naivete and narcissism. Regarding the latter, he writes:

…”feelings" and "compassion" are two of the most often used liberal terms. "Character" is no longer a liberal word because it implies self-restraint. "Good and evil" are not liberal words either as they imply a moral standard beyond one's feelings. In assessing what position to take on moral or social questions, the liberal asks him or herself, "How do I feel about it?" or "How do I show the most compassion?" not "What is right?" or "What is wrong?"

Compare these statements with those of Associate Professor Jack Glaser, one of the authors of the Berkeley study. He contends that conservatives are less "integratively complex" than liberals and states:

Conservatives don't feel the need to jump through complex, intellectual hoops in order to understand or justify some of their positions…(t)hey are more comfortable seeing and stating things in black and white in ways that would make liberals squirm…

This last sentence could have come directly out of Prager’s piece but I think each author reached his conclusion from vastly different paths.

I would contend that it is actually less intellectually complex to take liberalism’s world view than it is to have a conservative approach. It is much easier for me to defer making a judgment or taking a position by relying on my feelings than it is to have a strong sense of what is good/bad and right/wrong to guide me. Feelings are innate, emotional reactions. If I had let my feelings be my guide my entire life, I’d be a hell of a mess right now (instead of just the average mess I have become).

Despite Professor Glaser’s research, it’s not always comfortable seeing things in black and white. As Prager continues, it is just the opposite:

There are not many antidotes to this lethal combination of naivete and narcissism. Both are very comfortable states compared to growing up and confronting evil, and compared to making one's feelings subservient to a higher standard. And comfortable people don't like to be made uncomfortable.

I'll bet it's pretty comfortable being an Associate Professor at Berkeley.