The Conservative Personality

[sffreeways]

The Conservative Personality is destroying our Democracy.

This post is inspired by another thread where the poster wondered if
it's the American majority, not Bush, that is the problem. And a few other posts recently that caught my attention, the idea that the society has become 'sick', psychologically unbalanced as a result of growing conservative ideology and power and the politics of fear that our current crop of conservative creeps are pushing on the country.

I believe it has and it is getting worse. They play on our fear because of the psychological impact of fear on controlling us. So much about the conservative personality and it's current obsession with absolute power depends on the politics of fear.

Zell Miller appeared crazy. Dick Cheney, Alan Keyes, Obviously Bush on and on. Why do conservatives seem so crazy ? Because they are ?

Some articles that delve into the madness of the conservative mind shed light on why they seem so crazy.

Change in the Conservative Personality
Equals Change in the Offender
with a Resultant Reduction in Recidivism
by Michael D. Parsons and Jennifer G. Parsons

Abstract

Offenders have many of the characteristics of the conservative personality as defined by Adorno, Collins, Wilson, and Boshier. The characteristics of the conservative personality limit change necessary for rehabilitation. Until that personality is modified, it is very difficult to reduce recidivism. Modification of the conservative personality through education and environment can lead to change in the offender’s behavior.

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“It appears that conservatism has pathological dimensions manifested in violence and distorted psycho-sexual development” (Boshier, 1983, p. 159).

This is supported by a study conducted by Walker, Rowe, and Quincey (1993) in which there was a direct correlation between authoritarianism and sexually aggressive behavior. An investigation done by Muehlenhard (1988) revealed that rape justification and aggression toward subordinate individuals was much higher in traditional (conservative personality) than non-traditional personalities. It is postulated in this paper that the offender has a conservative personality and, therefore, manifests that violence.

Characteristics

•Religious dogmatism

•Right-wing political orientation (in Western society)

•Insistence on strict rules and punishments

•Ethnocentrism and intolerance of minority groups

•Preference for conventional art, clothing, and institutions

•Anti-hedonistic outlook (the tendency to regard pleasure, particularly sexual, as necessarily bad)

•Superstition and resistance to scientific progress (Boshier, 1983, p. 51)

The following is a series of statements or beliefs which can be attributed to the individual who manifests a conservative personality:

•Religion of a dogmatic and fundamental nature

•Commitment to political organizations which favor maintenance of the status quo (even by force)

•Strict regulation of individual behavior

•Militarism

•Preference for people of one’s own kind

•Resistance to change

•Conventional in art and clothing

•Refusal to accept new ideas

•Superstitious and fatalistic (Wilson, 1973)

Both Boshier and Wilson’s descriptors of the conservative personality were congruent with those of Nevitt Sandord, one of the original authors of the work on authoritarianism. Sanford discussed in detail the development of his research of the authoritarian personality, the ramifications of the concept of authoritarianism and updated the efforts from the time of the original work.

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According to Allport (1954) the authoritarian personality type was one which found daily life and “the consequences of personal freedom . . . unpredictable” (p. 382). He argued that such individuals would look to authority, in the form of society’s rules and laws, for discipline and stability. Allport specified that,

“This need for authority reflects a deep distrust of human beings”

(p. 382) and described authoritarian individuals as wishing to be a part of an orderly, powerful society, with well-defined rules and authoritative leadership; to act aggressively toward deviants and out group members; and to believe in the rightness of power and control, whether personal or societal.

http://www.doc.state.ok.us/DOCS/OCJRC/OCJRC95/950725c.h...


Now I don't argue that every single Bush supporter has a personality disorder or is a criminal. Some are confused, uninformed (although I can't imagine what type of solitary confinement they must be in), some simply vote republican because their parents did before them, but most (hehehe freepers) have a mean streak in them that follows the explanation of the conservative personality and its psychological maladies discussed in this article and others. So many people that vote republican vote their bigotry after all.

It's a great read. A bit frightening when you start to apply the theory to the conservative loons we all know and love...er..ah...strongly dislike.

Some other interesting observations can be found here:

The Politics of the Authoritarian Personality

http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2002/December/Sa...

Researchers help define what makes a political conservative

BERKELEY – Politically conservative agendas may range from supporting the Vietnam War to upholding traditional moral and religious values to opposing welfare. But are there consistent underlying motivations?

Four researchers who culled through 50 years of research literature about the psychology of conservatism report that at the core of political conservatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality, and that some of the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism include:

Fear and aggression

Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity

Uncertainty avoidance

Need for cognitive closure

Terror management
"From our perspective, these psychological factors are capable of contributing to the adoption of conservative ideological contents, either independently or in combination," the researchers wrote in an article, "Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition," recently published in the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin.

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The terror management feature of conservatism can be seen in post-Sept. 11 America, where many people appear to shun and even punish outsiders and those who threaten the status of cherished world views, they wrote.

Concerns with fear and threat, likewise, can be linked to a second key dimension of conservatism - an endorsement of inequality, a view reflected in the Indian caste system, South African apartheid and the conservative, segregationist politics of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-South S.C.).

Disparate conservatives share a resistance to change and acceptance of inequality, the authors said. Hitler, Mussolini, and former President Ronald Reagan were individuals, but all were right-wing conservatives because they preached a return to an idealized past and condoned inequality in some form. Talk host Rush Limbaugh can be described the same way, the authors commented in a published reply to the article.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/07/22_...

I'm wondering if the current climate of harsh polarity and meanness is really because conservatives are just plain anti-social by the nature of their personalities.

Ahhhh :smoke:

[Owlet]

1. Great Post! Thanks!

[Stew225]

5. Fascinating. Thanks for your effort in sharing. eom

[Rich Hunt]

2. it's descended from...

Things like this are always descended from Adorno's The Authoritarian Personality (I don't know how easy it is to find a copy these days - mine is very old).

If you scroll down a bit on this site, you will find an elaboration of this personality:

What kind of people would follow an aggressive, arrogant, critical, prejudiced leader? The classic book on this topic is The Authoritarian Personality. These authors (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson & Sanford, 1950) described several traits of authoritarian leaders, like Hitler, and their followers, like the German people:

1. Rigid, unthinking adherence to conventional, middle-class ideas of right and wrong. The distinction has to be made between (a) incorporating (as in Kohlberg's stage 6--see chapter 3) universal values and (b) having blind allegiance to traditional social-political-religious customs or organizations. Examples: an egalitarian person who truly values one-person-one-vote, equal rights, equal opportunities, and freedom of speech will support a democracy, not a dictatorship. A person who says, "I love my country--right or wrong" or "America--love it or leave it" may be a flag-waving, patriotic speech-making politician who is secretly an antidemocratic authoritarian (similar in some ways to Hitler). For the authoritarian the values of respecting and caring for others are not as important as being a "good German" or a "good American" or a "good Catholic" or a "good Baptist."

Important values to an authoritarian are obedience, cleanliness, success, inhibition or denial of emotions (especially anger and even love), firm discipline, honoring parents and leaders, and abhorring all immoral sexual feelings. This was the German character. Authoritarian parents tend to produce dominated children who become authoritarian parents. Egalitarians produce egalitarians.

2. Respect for and submission to authority--parents, teachers, religion, bosses, or any leader. This includes a desire for a strong leader and for followers to revere the leader, following him (seldom her) blindly. It was believed by the psychoanalytic writers of The Authoritarian Personality that recognizing one's hostile feelings towards an authority was so frightening that the authoritarian personality was compelled to be submissive. There is an emphasis on following rules and regulations, on law and order. Everyone has a proper role to play, including gender role.

3. They take their anger out on someone safe. In an authoritarian environment (family, religion, school, peer group, government), the compliant, subservient, unquestioning follower stores up unexpressed anger at the authority. The hostility can't be expressed towards the authority, however, so it is displaced to an outsider who is different--a scapegoat. Unconsciously, the authoritarian says, "I don't hate my father; I hate Jews (or blacks or unions or management or ambitious women or Communists or people on welfare)." The "good cause" to which one is dedicated often dictates who to hate, who to be prejudice against.

4. They can't trust people. They believe "people who are different are no good." If we believe others are as bad or worse than we are, we feel less guilt: "Everybody looks out for #1" or "Everybody would cheat if they had a chance." Such a negative view of people leads to the conclusion that harsh laws and a strong police or army are necessary. Also, it leads people to foolishly believe that humans would "go wild" and be totally immoral if they lost their religion.

5. Because they feel weak, authoritarian personalities believe it is important to have a powerful leader and to be part of a powerful group. Thus, they relish being in the "strongest nation on earth," the "master race," the "world-wide communist movement," "the wealthiest nation," the "best corporation," the "best part of town," the "best-looking crowd," the "best team," etc. The successful, the powerful, the leaders are to be held in awe. And the authoritarian says, "when I get power, I want to be held in awe too. I'll expect respect, just like I demand it from my children."

6. Over-simplified thinking. If our great leaders and our enormous government tells us what to do, if our God and our religion directs our lives, then we don't have to take responsibility for thinking or deciding. We just do what we are told. And, in general, we, "the masses," are given simple explanations and told the solutions are simple by authoritarian leaders. Examples: "The source of the trouble is lenient parents (or schools or laws)," "God is on our side," "Get rid of the Jews (or Capitalists or Communists or blacks or Arabs)." For the authoritarian if things aren't simple, they are unknowable, e.g. he/she endorses the statement, "science has its place, but there are many important things that can never possibly be understood by the human mind."

7. Guard against dangerous ideas. Since the authoritarian already has a handle on the truth, he/she opposes new ideas, unconventional solutions, creative imaginations. They believe an original thinker is dangerous; he/she will think differently. It's considered good to be suspicious of psychologists, writers, and artists who probe your mind and feelings--such people are scary. Governments who observe subversives are OK, though. Indeed, censorship of the media may become necessary, especially if the media becomes critical of our leaders or sexually provocative. A businessperson produces needed products; an intellectual is a threat.

8. I'm pure, others are evil. The authoritarian represses his/her aggressive and sexual feelings, then projects those traits on to stereotyped persons in the outgroup (see defense mechanisms in chapter 5). For example, it was Larry King's and other white men's dishonesty, laziness, hatred, and sexual urges that got projected to the black man (see quote above). The authoritarian, therefore, feels surrounded by people preoccupied with sex and/or violence. The psychoanalysts who wrote The Authoritarian Personality say the sexual fears come from an unresolved Oedipus or Electra Complex. The hostility comes from childhood (see #2 & #3 above) too and throughout their lives authoritarians expect criminal acts nearby and terrorists' attacks around the world. They become paranoid, believing many people want to hurt them (which justifies their aggression?).

9. Ethnocentrism: Everything of mine is better than yours--my country, my religion, my kind of people, my family, my self. Research has also shown the authoritarian is more prejudiced and more prone to punish people (including their own children) to get them to work harder or to do "right" (Byrne & Kelley, 1981).

http://mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap7/chap7l.htm

[liberalmuse]

6. This could have been written today...

about America. Perhaps there's always been a large number of people with this mindset, but I don't remember it ever being this bad in my lifetime. Perhaps it's because I only woke up about 9 years ago.

[sffreeways]

9. Number 3

3. They take their anger out on someone safe. In an authoritarian environment (family, religion, school, peer group, government), the compliant, subservient, unquestioning follower stores up unexpressed anger at the authority. The hostility can't be expressed towards the authority, however, so it is displaced to an outsider who is different--a scapegoat. Unconsciously, the authoritarian says, "I don't hate my father; I hate Jews (or blacks or unions or management or ambitious women or Communists or people on welfare)." The "good cause" to which one is dedicated often dictates who to hate, who to be prejudice against.

Maybe this explains the violent behavior the republicans exhibit toward protesters at their rallies. Someone not going along must really piss them off.

[jcappy]

3. Conservative System

I'm not so sure that the conservative personality is the big problem, but rather the systematic conservatism of the power elite. They conserve their power by forcing conservative characteristics on all of us--to one degee or another. Fear, competition, greed, caution, alienation, fatigue, isolation are a big part of our make-ups--or when not, we often have to pay the price (in terms of various forms of victimization via violence and force).

[liberalmuse]

4. Excellent!

I got the first link bookmarked, but could you shrink the next 2 in
http://www.tinyurl.com and then post them? For some reason, they don't work (the end is cut off). Thanks!

[sffreeways]

8. I hope these work

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/07/22
_politics.shtml

http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2002/December
/Sa22748.html

[Child_Of_Isis]

7. Once long ago,

I read a book called Emanuel. And when questioning the anger of this society, particularly this new bunch of republicans that are being bred... this always come to my mind:

Underneath anger
is always fear,
and underneath fear,
is always longing.


I really don't know what my point is, except I don't think democrats are as fearful.

[leesa]

10. Yup. They are immature cowards that need Daddies.