Where are the conservative social psychologists?

Is the Field of Psychology Biased Against Conservatives? This New Yorker article starts with:

On January 27, 2011, from a stage in the middle of the San Antonio Convention Center, Jonathan Haidt addressed the participants of the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The topic was an ambitious one: a vision for social psychology in the year 2020. Haidt began by reviewing the field that he is best known for, moral psychology. Then he threw a curveball. He would, he told the gathering of about a thousand social-psychology professors, students, and post-docs, like some audience participation. By a show of hands, how would those present describe their political orientation? First came the liberals: a “sea of hands,” comprising about eighty per cent of the room, Haidt later recalled. Next, the centrists or moderates. Twenty hands. Next, the libertarians. Twelve hands. And last, the conservatives. Three hands.


Social psychology, Haidt went on, had an obvious problem: a lack of political diversity that was every bit as dangerous as a lack of, say, racial or religious or gender diversity. It discouraged conservative students from joining the field, and it discouraged conservative members from pursuing certain lines of argument. It also introduced bias into research questions, methodology, and, ultimately, publications. The topics that social psychologists chose to study and how they chose to study them, he argued, suffered from homogeneity. The effect was limited, Haidt was quick to point out, to areas that concerned political ideology and politicized notions, like race, gender, stereotyping, and power and inequality. “It’s not like the whole field is undercut, but when it comes to research on controversial topics, the effect is most pronounced,” he later told me.

The rest of the article ranges widely over the various studies researchers have conducted on this phenomenon. I recommend it highly as well as the work of Jonathan Haidt. He describes himself as a political liberal when he embarked on the journey to investigate the foundations of morality. Haidt ultimately identifies six foundations:

1. Care/harm: cherishing and protecting others.

2. Fairness/cheating: rendering justice according to shared rules. (Alternate name: Proportionality)

3. Liberty/oppression: the loathing of tyranny.

4. Loyalty/betrayal: standing with your group, family, nation. (Alternate name: Ingroup)

5. Authority/subversion: obeying tradition and legitimate authority. (Alternate name: Respect.)

6. Sanctity/degradation: abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions. (Alternate name: Purity.)

This isn’t too controversial. However Haidt stepped on a live rail when he noted that conservatives tend to rely on all six foundations while liberals and libertarians tend to favor only one. Liberals rely on the Care/harm foundation while libertarians gravitate to liberty/oppression. (See his paper: Liberals and Conservatives Rely on Different Sets of Moral Foundations) As you can see Haidt is not afraid to question the status quo! Imagine the horror that someone dares to suggest that conservatives might have a broader moral foundation than liberals, and the conclusion comes from a liberal! (Haidt admits he has drifted more to the center as a result of his research and thinking.)

Anyway, please check out this article as well as the links to the various studies that are referred to in it. To me Haidt shows the result of truly trying to be objective.

Narratives and Arnold Kling's The Three Languages of Politics

My friend Robert Bidinotto has written a lot at http://bidinotto.blogspot.com/ on the importance of narrative in today’s politics and that the group that controls the narrative tends to win the debate and elections. I found an interesting ebook by Arnold Kling called The Three Languages of Politics that talks about the kinds of narratives liberals, conservatives and libertarians favor. He claims if you listen carefully liberals, conservatives and libertarians each have a favored language that centers on a different axis. Liberals talk about oppression versus the oppressed. Conservatives talk about civilization vs. barbarism. (I'd say their reference to tradition translates into preserving the collective knowledge that establishes laws and rituals that preserve civilization.) Libertarians focus on freedom versus coercion.

I think he is onto something and that it explains the acrimonious, usually unproductive cross talking when people argue. (I know many Objectivists strongly disagree with libertarianism. I'm not going to get into the argument some have with the issues they have with libertarianism as a political philosophy. I think it's fair to say that in general Objectivism shares the libertarian opposition to political coercion and support for individual freedom even if they arrive at this conclusion from a different philosophical approach based on rational self-interest.)

Kling gives some examples of this in his book and on his blog, http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/. Most recently he predicted how the narrative about the shooting in Ferguson would play out. The media and the left would try to portray Brown as a victim of oppression. The right would say that the ensuing riots show the battle between civilization and barbarism and the need for strong order. Libertarians would decry the use of coercive police force as threatening our freedom.

The more I listen to the different spokesman of the three sides the more I see confirmation of Kling’s model. I'm not saying it applies all of the time but I think he has identified generally valid patterns. He doesn't try to explain why people gravitate to one language, only that they do settle on one language and can’t understand why someone who disagrees with them can’t see the blindingly obvious truth of their position.

The link below has a nice, almost hour long discussion by Paul and Diana Hsieh on the details of this model and some ideas on how to apply them when talking with people who disagree with you. While Paul’s preferred language is in the libertarian axis (as is Kling’s) I believe anyone in the three groups could benefit by giving Paul’s talk a fair hearing.

http://www.philosophyinaction.com/podcasts/2014-07-03.html Here is the general outline of points in the pod cast.

• About the "three languages of politics"
• The differences in the three languages
• The difference that the three languages make
• Examples of the three languages
• Conflict between camps
• Alliances between camps
• Political argument between camps
• The debates over the Hobby Lobby decision
• Using the three languages to become more persuasive
• Caveats and cautions
• Three take-home points

The 1980s Called, and They Want Their Objectivism Back | The Tracinski Letter

This article by Robert Tracinski covers the "four cornerstones of the mainstream or ‘orthodox’ school of Objectivism that formed in the 1980s after Ayn Rand’s death. These propositions, having to do with the nature of Objectivism as a philosophy and how it should be organized as a movement, were solidified between 1985 and 1989 and articulated by Leonard Peikoff and by Peter Schwartz, with Peikoff’s approval and support. All of them are now coming crashing down in one way or another." The 1980s Called, and They Want Their Objectivism Back | The Tracinski Letter

While I think he is a bit harsh on the Brandens, Barbara in particular, I agree with his overall take on the continuing schisms and purges that plague the Objectivist world.

The Tribal Mind: Moral Reasoning and Public Discourse — The American Magazine

This article goes into more detail than the one I talked about in the previous post. The Tribal Mind: Moral Reasoning and Public Discourse — The American Magazine He also refers to the work of Jonathan Haidt who wrote The Happiness Hypothesis and The Righteous Mind, two of my favorite books. Objectivists and libertarians would benefit by reading both, in particular the later book.

Tribal Politics in the 21st Century — The American Magazine

One of these days I plan to write something on Arnold Kling's essay on the three languages of politics. (Actually have something in close to final draft stage.) In the meantime I highly recommend this summary: Tribal Politics in the 21st Century — The American Magazine. I think what he says about libertarians can be extended to Objectivists as well with minor modifications.

I'm sharing this also because I think Kling's identification of these models can help us craft our message so that it stands a better chance of being heard.