Psychologische Studien in den USA zeigen: „Linke“ (Liberals) und „Rechte“ (Conservatives) hätten nicht nur andere Sichten auf die Welt, sie würden sie selbst unbewusst auch anders wahrnehmen – sie seien anders. Konservative würden Bedrohungen als wichtiger betrachten. Sie seien ordentlicher und disziplinierter. Liberale hingegen neugieriger und offener. Nachzulesen im Scientific American, nachfolgend zwei besonders interessante Passagen.
Although conservatives and liberals are fundamentally different, hints are emerging about how to bring them together — or at least help them coexist. In his recent book The Righteous Mind, psychologist Jonathan Haidt of the N.Y.U. Stern School of Business argues that liberals and conservatives need not revile one another as immoral on issues such as birth control, gay marriage or health care reform. Even if these two worldviews clash, they are equally grounded in ethics, he writes.
On topics where liberals and conservatives will never see eye to eye, opposing sides can try to cultivate mutual respect. In The Righteous Mind, Haidt identifies several areas of morality. Liberals, he says, tend to value two of them: caring for people who are vulnerable and fairness, which for liberals tends to mean sharing resources equally. Conservatives care about those things, too, but for them fairness means proportionality>—that people should get what they deserve based on the amount of effort they have put in. Conservatives also emphasize loyalty and authority>, values helpful for maintaining a stable society.
