Left Vs. Right: Personality Differences

[Marnetmar]

I came across this video recently and I found it very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-XQQSfSrhg

I am not going to comment on my perception of its accuracy, but what do you think?

[Redalgo]

No study I have read concerning variations in value sets, moral convictions, traits of personal character, etc. having influence over ones positions in politics has been contrary to the notion of American rightists and leftists being divided in their RWA scores at present. Going beyond what was covered in the video btw, a person with the RWA personality archetype is submissive to conventional ways, their chosen leaders, and will act aggressively in opposition to those who are not on their "side," especially if placed in environs where lashing out feels safe and unlikely to carry with it a serious threat of successful retaliation on the part of their targets.

Something else I've noticed from skimming over the results of some social experiments involving university students placed into geopolitical simulations is that low-score RWA people generally appear to make splendid internationalists and collaborators for mutual gain when they are given decision-making authority, whereas high-score RWA folk seem much less trusting of people from other factions and engage in a lot of realpolitik and brinksmanship - to the effect of not building much in the way of inter-team projects and teetering on the edge of descent into large-scale, bloody conflicts (if I recall, the simulations for them usually ended in mutual annihilation with vast casualties courtesy of exchanges of nuclear weapons).

And yet I am reluctant to drag in labels like Democrat, Republic, liberal, or conservative when we discuss a matter like this. One risks painting with far too broad a brush. There are some general trends to observe, certainly, but I certainly don't go around thinking of Republicans as potential fascists in a condition of dormancy or of Democrats as libertarians who don't think of freedom of the individual in terms of big versus small government. To avoid making a partisan hackfest out of intriguing (and pretty plausible) theories like that presented in the video I like to step back a bit and try to put a positive spin on what makes people different.

Can an understanding of RWA scores help people of different factions better understand the core motives of their different-minded counterparts? How can low and high scorers on the spectrum be brought to see and to some extent integrate the strengths of their opponents' perspectives into their own? Likewise, what can be learned about the political weaknesses of folk on each end of the scale? Are the two poles bound to be locked in a zero-sum contest for power or are there constructive ways to collaborate and deliver gains to both sides? These are the sort of matters springing to mind for me right now.