Abstract thinking can make you a more politically moderate. University study. [View all]

[Pretzel_Warrior]

I find this experiment quite interesting regarding recent topics about moderates vs. liberals or more strongly held or ideologically pure views.

Partisans beware! Some of your most cherished political attitudes may be malleable! Researchers report that simply answering three “why” questions on an innocuous topic leads people to be more moderate in their views on an otherwise polarizing political issue.

The research, described in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, explored attitudes toward what some people refer to as the ground zero mosque, an Islamic community center and mosque built two blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City. When the Islamic center first was proposed it sparked a heated debate pitting proponents of religious freedom against those who felt the center should be moved away from the site of the 9/11 attacks out of reverence for those killed by Muslim extremists.

http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/12/1102abstract_thinking_JessePreston_DanielYang_IvanHernandez.html